Yakkun nattannawa: a Cingalese poem, descriptive of the Ceylon system of demonology; to which is approved, the practices of a capua or devil priest, as described by a Buddhist: and Kolan nattannawa: a Cingalese poem, descriptive of the characters assumed by natives of Ceylon in a masquerade. Translated by John Callaway

London: Printed for the Oriental Translation Fund [and] sold by J. Murray, 1829. First edition, tall 8vo, pp. xi, [1], 69, [3]; 9 lithograph plates, 7 hand-colored; original olive green cloth boards, neatly rebacked in matching morocco, gilt lettering direct on spine; a few spots on the back cover and the blank rear flyleaf is apparently missing (although no evidence of its being excised), otherwise quite a nice copy, including the extra inserted lithograph presentation leaf printed in blue-gray, identifying this as a subscriber's copy, and in this case, His Royal Highness, the Duke of Gloucester's copy. Bookseller's ticket on front pastedown of Edwd. Purdy, Chancery Lane. The hand-colored plates depict Singhalese masks and costumes which Callaway sketched from the collections belonging to the chief of the Galle tong-tong beaters at Tallapittea. One of the other plates contains a specimen of the Kolan nattanawa in Singhalese characters. A compelling book, with an interesting provenance, by the maker of the first English language dictionaries of Singhalese and Sri Lankan Portuguese (Colombo, 1818). Issued as volume VII in the Oriental Translation Fund series. "By far the most reliable source we have for the reconstruction of the Kolan" (Folk Drama of Ceylon, p. 60). Item #44506

Price: $2,000.00