A star-struck biography of Sir William "Oriental" Jones, who in
1786 proposed a common linguistic antecedent called Indo-European,
from which most other languages were descended. Jones's search for
universal and secular origins expressed the spirit of his age. A
poet and scholar by avocation, he was trained in the law and spent
most of his life as Supreme Court Justice in India, where he
founded the Asiatic Society for the study and dissemination of
knowledge about Oriental culture. Its scope exceeded that of the
Royal Society, but its Anglo-Indian membership lacked glitter,
which may account for why its major contribution, the discovery of
a Hindu golden age, was disregarded during the Anglicizing of the
19th century. While this biography by Cannon (English/Texas
A&M) records where Jones went, what he said, his club meetings,
dinners, illnesses, and cases, there is little of the actual life
or mind here. We learn that Jones's father was an esteemed
mathematician; that a series of childhood accidents left him
scarred and nearly blind; that his formidable education and
prodigious memory helped him overcome his otherwise humble origins;
that he sought an Indian post to earn money for an English
retirement; that, with his nearly invisible wife Ann, he preferred
to the lively social life of Calcutta a quiet retreat with such
pets as a giant turtle named "Othello," who answered to his name
and joined them for dinner. After many years of fevers from the
unhealthy climate, Jones died alone at age 47, his wife having
preceded him in returning to England. With his erudition and
industry, Jones is a challenge to any biographer; but Cannon, who
edited the Jones letters (1970), and wrote a bibliography (1976),
makes excessive claims that compromise Jones's genuine
achievements. His poetry, for example, voluminous, learned, but
derivative, is not as "innovative" as The Lyrical Ballads; his
aesthetics did not influence the Romantic writers; and he was not
"among the greatest living poets." At best, as the Gentleman's
Magazine claimed, "he is one of the most extraordinary characters
which England has furnished," and that's a good enough reason for
reading this biography. (Kirkus Reviews)
Sir William Jones (1746-1794) is best known for his famous Third Discourse of 1786 in which he proposed that Sanskrit's affinity to Greek and Latin could be explained by positing a common, earlier source, one known today as Indo-European. This brilliant thesis laid the groundwork for modern comparative linguistics. Jones' interests and achievements, however, ranged far beyond language. He studied and made contributions to anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, botany, history, law, literature, music, physiology, politics, and religion. He served as a Supreme Court justice in India and founded the Asiatic Society, which stimulated world-wide interest in India and the Orient. He was friends with many of the leading intellectuals of his day and corresponded with Benjamin Franklin in America and with Burke, Gibbon, Johnson, Percy and Reynolds in Britain. In his short life he mastered so many languages that he was regarded even in his own time as a phenomenon, and so he was. Garland Cannon, editor of the much acclaimed The Letters of Sir William Jones, has written a new and definitive biography of this fascinating man, who in his life and works teaches us that the path to understanding and appreciating the art and literature of a great culture very different from our own is through devoted study, a tolerant spirit, and an unquenchably curious mind.
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