Zur Geschichte der Griechischen und Indoskythischen Konige in Baktrien, Kabul und Indien
durch Entzifferung der Altkabulischen Legenden auf ihren Muenzen. Bonn H.B. Konig 1838
First edition, pp.284. German text. A very good copy in paper covered boards, gilt leather spine label. Light rubbing and bumping to boards and spine, slight foxing scattered throughout. Discreet ownership signature of "Alfred v. Gutschmid" to pastedown. Alfred von Gutschmid (1835-1887) was a German orientalist and eminent historian of pre-Greek and Hellenistic periods, particularly in Persia and Iran.
One of the earliest attempts to decipher Bactrian script using Bactrian, Indo-Greek and Indo-Scythian coins with Kharoshthi legend inscriptions. The author disagrees with the theories of, among others, Masson, Prinsep and Grotefend, and firmly propounds his own ideas. Christian Lassen (1800-1876), a German Indologist, understood a dozen languages including Sanskrit, Pali, and Arabic. His annotated edition of the Hitopadeśa (1831), edited in conjunction with August Wilhelm von Schlegel, was the first critical study of Sanskrit literature. He was also the first to decipher Brahmi scipt in 1836, and one of the first to attempt to decipher Bactrian.