NORRIS, Edwin. 20059

£35

Description

Autograph Letter Signed, abut the publication of his correspondent’s papers. A good one page example, 8 x 5 inches. Undated. Edwin Norris (1795–1872), linguist and Assyriologist. Norris became assistant secretary to the Royal Asiatic Society, of which he remained an officer for the rest of his life, as secretary from 1856 and librarian and honorary secretary from 1861. His most important achievement in this connection was his contribution to the decipherment of cuneiform. He compiled the first ever Assyrian Dictionary. From 1830 he was regularly used by the British and Foreign Bible Society as editor or adviser on translation projects, in languages including Berber, Maori, Persian, Arabic, and little-known languages of Africa and the Pacific. in 1859 he published The Ancient Cornish Drama, which is the standard edition of the most important relic of Cornish literature.