The Sacred Books of the East

Abstract

THE series of volumes, of which the first three have just been issued simultaneously, under the able editorship of Prof. Max Müller, are a very significant sign of our age. Their object is none other than to give to the public the sacred books of the historical religions of the world, translated into English by the best living scholars, without praise or disparagement, and with no reference to theological controversies or the needs of missionary zeal. The translations aim at being exact and faithful representations of the originals, so far as this is possible, and they are published in the interests of science, not of religious dogma. It is intended that the scientific student of religion should possess in them trustworthy materials on which to found his generalisations and build his conclusions. The fact that such a work should appeal to a large public is not so remarkable as the further fact that it has been published at the expense of a university once supposed to be the stronghold of a narrow orthodoxy.

The Sacred Books of the East.

Translated by various Oriental Scholars, and Edited by F. Max Müller. Vol. I. The Upanishads, Translated by F. Max Müller. Vol. II. The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, Translated by Georg Bühler. Vol. III. The Sacred Books of China, Translated by James Legge. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1879.)