Tantraraja Tantra. Part I, Chapters I-XVIII (Tantrik Texts, Vol. VIII)
London: Luzac & Co., [1919]. First edition. Softcover. Quarto. 37pp. [3]. 331pp. (in Sanskrit numerals) [1]. Illustrated red paper wrappers with text and geometric mandala design in black on the front cover. Pages uncut. This work is is the 8th volume of the pioneering 16-part British-published series "Tantrik Texts" on the esoteric Hindu Tantras, originally released 1913-1933, conceived and edited by British orientalist and writer Sir John George Woodroffe (1865–1936), under the pseudonym Arthur Avalon. This volume is comprised of the first eight chapters of the Tantraraja Tantra, and was edited and prepared by scholar Mahâmahopâdhyâya Lakshmana Shâstrî. The original Sanskrit text of the Tantra is accompanied throughout by a running commentary underneath called Manorama, also in Sanskrit, by the scholar Subhaganandanatha of the "Kashmir school", as well as addition footnotes. The verso of half-title page contains a printed list of other Tantric publications by Woodroffe, including previous entries in this series. Mandala designs on the final page, and in-between the English and Sanskrit sections, in black. Printed in Calcutta by S.C. Chowdhury.
The majority of the text in the book is printed in Sanskrit, but the first 37 pages contain an introduction, scholarly notes and text summaries in English by Woodroffe.
Wrappers heavily chipped along edges, and along the spine. Rubbing to extremities. Light chipping and closed tears along the edges of the half-title page and the final page. P. 13 of the Sanskrit section with a large tear to the bottom right corner (text unaffected), the following two pages (14-15) stained and smudged. Wrappers in fair to good-, inteiror in very good- condition overall. fair to vg-. Item #47605
* Tantraraja Tantra, Part II, Chapters XIX-XXXVI, edited by Mahamahopadhyaya Sadashiva Mishra, was published as volume #12 of ther series, in 1926.
Price: $125.00