OMAN, John Campbell.

The Mystics, Ascetics, and Saints of India [ A Study of Sadhuism, with an Account of the Yogis, Sanyasis, Bairagis, and other strange Hindu Sectarians ].

London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1905. Second edition. Hardcover. Large thick octavo. xvi + 304 pp. Original green pictorial cloth with gilt titling to spine, black title and illustration to upper board, frontispiece with tissue guard, and 18 full page b&w plates: a mixture of line drawings and photographs. Index. An interesting study of Sadhuism, drawn from a mixture of first-hand experience and extensive research. The author, John Campbell Oman (1841 — 1911) was an Indian-born British Indologist and scholar of religion who served in various administrative posts in the Raj before taking a Professorship at Government College in Lahore. He authored a number of works including "Indian Life, Religious and Social (1889); "Brahmans, Theists, and Muslims of India" (1907); and "Cults, customs and superstitions of India" (1908). Contents of this volume: Introduction. Chapter I: Asceticism: Its Origin And Development; Chapter II; Some Peculiar And Distinctive Characteristics Of Hindu Asceticism; Chapter III Sadhus Before The Public At Fairs And Elsewhere; Chapter IV The Wonders That Present-Day Sadhus And Faquirs Are Said To Perform; Chapter V: Some Glimpses Of Sadhus In Indian Fiction; Chapter VI: Sadhus As Described By Some European Visitors To India; Chapter VII: A View Of The Successive Phases Of Modern Hinduism And Of The Origin Of The More Important Hindu Sects, In Relation To The Development Of Sadhuism In India; Chapter VIII: Hindu Ascetic Sects And Their Subdivisions; Chapter IX: Personal Experiences With Sadhus, Good And Bad; Chapter X: Some Sadhvis Or Female Devotees; Chapter XI: Hindu Monasteries; Chapter XII: Conclusion, Index. Some wonderful contemporary black and white photographs of Sadhus and Holy Men. Cloth a little faded at spine ends and outer edges of boards. Spine ends, edges and corners lightly bruised and rubbed, endpapers unevenly browned, a few scattered spots of foxing - otherwise internally clean and unmarked. Overall a tight, VG+ copy in dust jacket. (Printed paper dust jacket is a little darkened and chipped, but the Illustrated spine and panels are largely complete and it appears VG, although if one looks at the reverse it seems that the panels were detached at the folds and have been reinforced with acid-free tissue tape. Jacket now protected by a mylar cover). Unusual in dust jacket. Item #19158

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