Lady Blennerhasset, a well-known literary and social figure of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, wrote to Mrs Max Muller after the death of her husband ‘My admiration for your husband makes me envy the task of him or her, who will be his biographer There are few lives so rich, so attractive, so truly interesting, from the intellectual and purely human point of view ’
During the four years which I took to write this biography I have felt that she was right in saying so It has been a memorable experience for me, and not merely a task The introduction which follows will explain why I undertook to write Max Muller’s life anew after the first and last biography so far written was published in 1902 Here I shall only set down my obligations
First and foremost, my thanks are due to my friend, Laurens van der Post, for having suggested the project to me After him I am indebted to the two grandsons of Max Muller, Mr Charles and Mr J H Max-Muller, (anglice) for the interest they have taken in the work, and especially to Mr J H Max-Muller for the readiness with which he has helped me with documents and books A very large volume of Max Muller’s papers have been deposited by Mr J H Max-Muller in the Bodleian for the use of those who might be interested in his work and life He has also given me access to papers which are still with the family Without this help this book could not have been written
Dr Hunt, Keeper of the Western MSS in the Bodleian, and the staff of Duke Humphrey’s Library — Mr Vaisey, Mr Porter, Mr Harris and their assistants — have been very helpful and courteous, so making the consultation of the papers in the Library not only research but an agreeable spending of time I am indebted to Mr Alexander of the Library for helping with passages in Greek and Latin, not all quoted in the book
In India I would record my obligation to Margaret Chatterji and Parimal Goswami for supplying me with certain information I wanted, and also to my dead friend Gopal Bhattacharya for the same kind of help
I must next thank the helper without whom this book would not have been published As written by me, it became too long to be a commercial proposition, and since I did not have the time to carry out the editing it was undertaken by Ingaret Giffard As the author of the book I would say that the omissions have been made and the editing done with extraordinary skill There is nothing more delicate and difficult than to deal with another man’s writing Ingaret Giffard’s handling of this tricky task was such that when I lead the results of her editing in the proofs — not
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
having looked into the edited typescript, I could not be sure where the cuts had been made, and I discovered them by an effort of the memory I think no author could say more about the editing of his work
But skilled as the editing has been, it has also to be pointed out that it was bound to have another aspect Max Muller’s life was so many-sided and information about it is so voluminous that even in the original version I could not include many things which I should have liked to have dealt with If all the details could have been retained, the book would have been more colourful, but, on the other hand, the streamlining will make for a coherent and clean-cut impression And I would stress that only illustrative details have been cut, no basic feature of the book has been interfered with, and its spirit has been wholly preserved
My publishers have been very generous and forbearing with me during the long gestation of the book, and without prodding me have taken keen personal mterest in its progress
I want to acknowledge the authority that has been given me to use manuscript material the telegrams from Queen Victoria and Albert Edward (Prince of Wales) on the illness and death of Max Muller have been reproduced by the gracious permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and the letters from Lord Salisbury and Lord Curzon by the courtesy respectively of the Marquess of Salisbury and the Viscount Scarsdale
Last of all, I must set down my gratitude to Oxford, where I wrote the book Of course, since the papers were in the Bodleian, I had to be here But I did not work at Oxford only as a research student I had to imbibe the spirit of the place where Max Muller spent his life, and the book would never have been what it is if only its materials were gathered at Oxford
Oxford Nirad C Chaudhuri