John P. Clay and the Clay Sanskrit Library

Abstract

Manuscript and Text Cultures is published in collaboration with the Digital Clay Sanskrit Library (eCSL).

The Clay Sanskrit Library is a book series initiated by John P. Clay covering a wide spectrum of Classical Sanskrit literature spanning two millennia. Today, the list of published volumes encompasses fifty-six works. Bound in the convenient pocket size (4.5″×6.5″) in an elegant design, each work features the original Sanskrit text in transliterated Roman letters on the left-hand page with its English translation on the facing page.

John P. Clay’s vision came to life in the late 1990s, when he began to put the people and resources together for what would become the Clay Sanskrit Library. Since the publication of the first volume in 2005, fifty-six volumes have been published. The selection represents the richness and wide variety of Sanskrit literature, covering works of drama, poetry, satire, and novels, as well as the two famous epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa.

The Clay Sanskrit Library titles are in the process of conversion to digital format at the Digital Clay Sanskrit Library (eCSL). In eCSL, the editions retain the facing page translations and they provide additional search and navigation features, thus making it an immediate and
practical platform especially to students of Sanskrit. Visit the website of eCSL for more details.