Articles

Paying Homage to James Thomas Molesworth

by Dr. Kiran Thakur

I had made up my mind to pay a rich tribute to James Thomas Molesworth on behalf of every Marathi-speaking person for his monumental work of compiling and editing the Marathi-English Dictionary first published in 1831. It had occurred to me some three years ago that July 13, 2021, would be his 150th death anniversary. Nobody in England would remember. In Maharashtra also, there was no possibility of anyone remembering him.

Writing this occasional paper was my way of pay the tribute. It appeared to me as if this lexicographer descended from England, delivered to the Marathi people what the destiny assigned him to do, and floated back to his motherland. Not a word did he mention about his contribution to this language then, in the 1870s or for posterity.

My association with the Moleswarths now extends to, so to say, James’s great-grandfather, Robert Molesworth, who was ennobled to a viscountcy in 1716, was the author of An Account of Denmark (first published 1694). Thanks to my involvement with authoring an 84-page occasional paper. I now feel associated with their present generation, the 12th Viscount Molesworth and his brother, William, who helped me a great deal in publishing this publication.

For our generation in Maharashtra, James Thomas Molesworth remained in obscurity until 1975 when Mr. Sharad Gogte of Shubhada Saraswat Prakashan brought out an offset edition of the dictionary. Nobody in JT Molesworth’s motherland now knows the pains he took to bring out the dictionary in India.

As I started using a copy of the offset print edition of the dictionary, 1975 onwards, it began to dawn on me that Molesworth had left a great legacy behind him in the form of the dictionary but nothing as memorabilia. I searched the internet, corresponded with several people, but soon realised that he had not left his photograph, his sketch, an inscription on a tomb, a memorial in a church, or in an educational institution in England.

He died in Clifton, Bristol, England, on 13 July 1871. Because he was a devout Christain and had returned from India, I thought, someone from his clan or from his neighbourhood would have mentioned something about him in the contemporary local newspaper about the dictionary. Or, there would be some reference in the records of a church or an inscription on his tomb. I contacted the Bristol Evening Post and the Western Daily Press with a request to provide me with some information about J T Molesworth from the town archive or other sources. 

Dr. C S Knighton, the Principal Assistant Keeper of Archives of the Clifton College & Clifton College Services Ltd, did try to help me with the following information: ‘Our college was not founded until 1860, and while Molesworth must have been aware of this new seat of learning in the place of his retirement, his name does not feature among our earliest supporters and benefactors. By chance a distant relative, the Hon. Arthur Ernest Parnell Molesworth (born 1870, son of the 8th Viscount) was a boy here from 1885 to 1888; and by further chance, we have recently been in touch with his descendant, to whom I am copying your inquiry. The descendent, Mr. William Molesworth, tried a check on the Bristol Archives online catalogue. It showed nothing relevant.’
However, Mr. William collected from his brother who is the present viscount, copies of paintings of Richard Molesworth (in oils by James Northcote; chalk and ink drawing by John Downman) and Catherine Cobb (in oils by James Northcote) from his collection and mailed it to me.

I was enthused by a brainwave of my close friend, Mr. Prakash Balasaheb Joshi, who is a respected print and broadcast journalist in both the languages, Marathi and English. He has retired from the Mumbai-based Times of India in the year 2011 and is an international name in oil paintings, sketches, and line drawings. His artwork is exhibited at national and international centers (http://www.prakashbaljoshi.com/). He responded to my request to draw a sketch of JT Molesworth based on whatever information I could procure from the literature about his life and work. Prakash volunteered to give it a try if I managed to get a photograph or a painting of the present generation Molesworth. I emailed my request to Mr. William Moresworth. He promptly obliged with paintings of JT Molesworth’s parents from the collection of the present viscount

Prakash Joshi’s schedule was tight, but he read the literature about JT Molesworth, the text I wrote about him for this occasional paper. He studied Molesworth’s physical features from the emailed paintings and prepared a sketch from his surmise/impression. The sketch here is how JT Molesworth might have looked like, or so we (the author of this occasional paper and the artist of the sketch) believe.

My occasional paper was almost ready by May 2021. Prof Dr. Siddharth Jabade, Vice-Chancellor of our Vishwakarma University, and Dean, Prof Dr. Chetan Kapadnis supported the proposal to release for publication of the paper in PDF format on July 13, 2021. http://vuccd.com/james-thomas-molesworth-marathi-english-dictionary-project.

My journalist colleagues in Pune and elsewhere responded to my idea to pay homage to this great man on his 150th death anniversary. Among them was Mr. Gogate, the publisher of the second edition. He was thrilled. He let out his current plan: He has begun writing a novel with Molesworth as its hero.

That would be another tribute to Molesworth. I am anxious to read it.

About the Author:

Dr. Kiran Thakur is a Professor Emeritus at Vishwakarma University Centre of Communication for Development, he can be reached at [email protected] 

 

 

One Comment

  1. Dear Dr. Kirtan Thakur,

    Very nice Article.
    Thank you for publishing today on मराठी भाषा दिवस!

    मोळेस्वर्थ is मोरेश्वर शास्त्री!