With much sorrow I here record the lamented death of my old friend and colleague Mahāmahõpādhyāya Pandit Sudhākara Dvivēdi, the joint editor of this poem. It was his custom, in the midst of other multifarious occupations, to write the admirable commentary as it was required by the printer, and the present fasciculus, the last few sheets of which have not had the benefit of his revision, contain the final instalment of his work. Until arrangements can be made by the Asiatic Society of Bengal for another scholar to carry on his task, the publication of this edition of the Padumāwati is necessarily suspended. As it stands, this first volume fulfils one of the objects with which the edition was undertaken. It gives a very complete example of the old Awadhi dialect spoken in the 16th century A.D. For those who wish to study the poem for its contents, there are published in India numerous uncritical editions of the text, which will meet their requirements. GEORGE A. GRIERSON.
