Other names: Horner, I. B.
Horner, Isaline Blew
Birthdate: 1896-03-30
Date of death: 1981-04-25
Gender: female
Nationality: UK
Birthplace: Walthamstow, England, UK
Places of residence: Cambridge, England, UK
London, England, UK
Manchester, England, UK
Sri Lanka
India
Education: Newnham College, Cambridge
Occupations: scholar of Buddhist literature
librarian
translator
Relationships: Butler, Eliza Marian (domestic partner)
Organizations: Pali Text Society
Perennialist School
Awards and honors: OBE
Short biography: Isaline Blew Horner (also known as I.B. Horner) was born in Walthamstow, England. In 1917, she graduated from the University of Cambridge, Newnham College, with a bachelor's degree in moral sciences (philosophy). In 1921, she went to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), India, and Burma, where she was introduced to Eastern religions and Buddhist literature. On her return to England, she accepted a fellowship at Newnham College and became its librarian. In 1928, she was named the first Sarah Smithson Research Fellow in Pali Studies and researched and wrote her first book, Women Under Primitive Buddhism (1930). Three years later, she edited her first volume of Pali text, the third volume of the Papancasudani. Among her other works were a translation of the Vinaya Pitaka (Book of the Discipline). She became the Honorary Secretary of the Pali Text Society (PTS) in 1942 and eventually became the Society's President and Honorary Treasurer. She was awarded the OBE in 1980.

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Buddhist Texts Through the Ages by I. B. Horner

The blurb of this book promises the following:

"This unique anthology of Buddhist scripture traces the development of Buddhism through the ages and around the world. Designed to serve scholars and students, this classic text has become a valuable resource for Buddhists and all those who wish to explore for themselves the original sources of one of the world's great religions.
Accessible and jargon-free, these translations from the original Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese are presented in plain English by four leading experts on the language and literature of Buddhism, while a glossary of foreign terms completes a thoroughly comprehensive and timeless introduction to the subject."

What utter rubbish.

What the book contains are excerpts of translated texts that have been translated and complied by academics for academics. There is a short introduction to the texts dating back to 1953 but this gives no indication of how the texts were selected or what their significance is.

For a book that presumes to be a comprehensive and timeless introduction to the subject, there is a remarkable lack of explanations. In fact, there are none.

So what the book really is, is a collection of nondescript texts that are presented without any context, relevance, time lines, or anything else that could serve to gain an understanding of the text and how they relate to the subject. Unless, of course, you consult a variety of additional reference works.

1.5* rounded up.… (more)

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BrokenTune | Aug 21, 2016 |

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