The Correspondence of Edward Hincks

Man sagt nicht zu viel, wenn man ihn [Hincks] den eigentlichen Entzifferer der dritten Keilschriftgattung nennt. [translation] One is not saying too much, if one calls Hincks the true decipherer of Assyrian-Babylonian cuneiform. Julius Wellhausen 1876 Hincks was a scholar of international significance in the nineteenth century. He was an expert on ancient Assyria and deciphered the Mesopotamian cuneiform script ... an assiduous letter writer and in this volume of letters from his youth he corresponded with friends and colleagues on ancient Egypt and his other concerns ... The clean, classical typography is equalled in the overall design and quality of binding. Books Ireland Nov 2007 The letters in this volume date largely from his years in Killyleagh and it was from his rural fastness that Hincks developed his international reputation as an oriental scholar. Letters were sent to and received from scholars in Ireland, England and continental Europe. Among the Irish correspondents were the mathematician William Rowan Hamilton, the antiquary Isaac Cullimore and the Cork numismatist Richard Sainthill. There was correspondence with the editors of the Literary Gazette, the Athenaeum and the English Review as well as with English scholars such as the philologist George Cecil Renouard, Samuel Birch in the British Museum and the Coptic scholar Henry Tattam. From the continent cam communications - from the German philologist Georg Friedrich Grotefend, from Conrad Leemans in Leyden and from the Norwegian indologist Christian Lassen. The editor of this collection who is Emeritus Professor of Near Eastern Languages in University College Dublin, has gathered these letters from libraries and archives in Belfast, Berlin, Dublin, London, Oxford, Paris and Yale, has carefully edited them and has added interesting illustrations to accompany some of the more unusual texts. Most of the letters are concerned with Hincks's studies of the ancient Egyptian language and his discoveries in the decipherment of Akkadian, the language of Babylonia and Assyria. But there is also Irish material: letters on Trinity College matters, on the Great Famine and on ecclesiastical affairs, in addition to letters to his daughters. But it is mostly the academic letters which catch the imagination for they emphasis - of such emphasis is needed - that in the 19th century, it was the letter which was the principal mode of communication. In an age when travel was difficult and electronic communication all but unknown, correspondence provided the vehicle for working out ideas among likeminded people and academic journals the medium for subsequently publishing them. It is reassuring in an age when digitisation has reached almost cult status in archives, that there are still scholars who are able and willing to prepare printed editions of manuscript material and publishers who will take on such projects. This book exemplifies all the virtues of a printed edition: text which has been transcribed and is therefore easy to read; a succinct introduction which sets the scene; careful notes which explain and amplify the text; an index which opens up access to the contents and a bibliography to stimulate further reading. What more could anyone want? Dr Raymond Refausse Department Church Body Library Irish Archives Winter 2008