The Book of Common Prayer for the Church of England, translated into Mara'thi'. DIXON, Rev. J[ohn]. B.

First Edition, 8vo (220 x 140 mm), printed in Devanagari type throughout with a title-page in Mara'thi' and English, 711pp., inscriptions and bookplate to upper pastedown and front free endpaper, internally clean and crisp condition; contemporary full dark aubergine calf, spine gilt in compartments with red morocco label, lettered in gilt, extremities a little rubbed, a handsome copy. The first Book of Common Prayer in Marathi (Griffiths' Bibliography, 'Prayer Books in Other Languages' 107.2), and a rare imprint with only two copied located institutionally (BL and Yale). Marathi is one of the major Indo-Aryan languages in India and the official language of the state of Maharashtra (of which Mumbai is the capital city). Dixon studied at the Church Missionary Society College in Islington and was posted to India, specifically at Nazikh, in the Deccan Plateau where Marathi is widely spoken. Dixon was notably also one of the translators of the Old Testament into Marathi, which was completed in 1851 (Darlow and Moule '6689a', with variant spelling of name 'Dickson').