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Charles Wilkins, The Bhagvat-Geeta, or Dialogues of Kreeshna and Arjoon; in Eighteen Lectures; with Notes: Translated from the original, in the Sanskreet, or ancient language of the Brahmans, Printed for C Nourse, 1785, First edition

156 pages; hardbound in early marble-covered boards with a modern leather spine with gilt text
31.5 x 25 x 2 cm

The first edition of the English translation of the Bhagavad Gita, the most revered text in Hindu scripture.

This English translation is the editio princeps (first printed edition) of the Gita, coming almost 20 years before any written version in an Indian language. Sir Charles Wilkins, KH, FRS (1749 - 13 May 1836), was an English typographer and Orientalist, and founding member of the The Asiatic Society. In 1784, Wilkins helped William Jones establish the Asiatic Society of Bengal. He is the inventor of the modern Bengali and French typefaces.

Wilkins was a pioneering Sanskrit scholar, who joined the East India Company's employ as a writer in 1770. During his tenure, he demonstrated proficiency in Bengali and Hindu, in addition to Persian. Wilkins began studying Sanskrit, the ancient language that is the basis of the majority of contemporary Indian languages, in 1778, having previously contributed to the publishing of Halhed's Grammar of the Bengali Language.

By 1783, Wilkins's work for the East India Company was becoming a hindrance to his Sanskrit studies and was even negatively affecting his health. As a result, Bengal Governor-General Warren Hastings, who would later become his patron, intervened. Wilkins found a kind and supportive patron in Hastings. He was released from his administrative responsibilities and allowed to relocate to Benares, where he concentrated on translating the Bhagavad Gita-a section of the Mahabharata-from Sanskrit into English. He received intimate assistance in this from the Brahmin pandit (priest) Kasinatha Bhattacharya.

In October 1784, Wilkins brought his translation to Warren Hastings, who promptly wrote to his wife, saying, "My friend Wilkins has lately made a Present of a most wonderful work of Antiquity, and I am going to present it to the Public." By December, he had written to the East India Company's Director, Nathaniel Smith, requesting the Company's support in getting the translation published. If Hastings hadn't persisted in pressing the Company, Wilkins' translation might not have been released.

The "fidelity, accuracy, and merit of the Translator" were praised by the Court of Directors upon approval. They went on to write "the antiquity of the original, and the veneration in which it hath been held for so many ages, by a very considerable portion of the human race, must render it one of the greatest curiosities ever presented to the literary world". Its publication in London in 1785 was the foundational event in the history of Sanskrit studies in the West. It was the first work translated directly from Sanskrit into English and was carried out by the first Englishman to master the classical Indian language. It also marked the first appearance in the Western world of the most sacred text in Hinduism, and within a few years Wilkins's translation had been rendered into Russian, French (1787) and German (1802). Moreover, its publication led to "a series of important translations of ancient Indic works that would make an enormous impact on European letters, inspiring a veritable 'Oriental renaissance'" (Richard H. Davis).

This book proved to be a major influence on Romantic literature and on European perception of Hindu philosophy. William Blake later celebrated the publication in his picture The Bramins, exhibited in 1809, which depicted Wilkins and Brahmin scholars working on the translation.

With Hastings’ departure from India, Wilkins lost his main patron. He returned to England in 1786, where he married Elizabeth Keeble. In 1787 Wilkins followed the Gita with his translation of The Heetopades of Veeshnoo-Sarma, in a Series of Connected Fables, Interspersed with Moral, Prudential and Political Maxims (Bath: 1787).

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