Charles Rockwell Lanman

Charles Rockwell Lanman, (born July 8, 1850, Norwich, Conn., U.S.—died Feb. 20, 1941, Boston, Mass.), American scholar of Sanskrit who wrote the widely used Sanskrit Reader (1884) and helped edit the “Harvard Oriental Series,” which offered scholarly English translations of the ancient Hindu Vedic texts.

He received his doctorate from Yale University, where he studied Sanskrit under William Dwight Whitney. After further study in Germany, Lanman was appointed to Johns Hopkins University (1876) and later to Harvard University (1880), where he became Wales professor of Sanskrit (1903–26). In 1891 Lanman became editor of the Harvard Oriental Series, founded and financed by his friend and pupil Henry Clark Warren. During Lanman’s editorship 31 volumes were issued; and many of them, such as Whitney’s Atharva Veda and Arthur B. Keith’s Yajur Veda and Rig Veda Brahmanas, furnished for the first time scholarly translations into English of ancient Sanskrit texts. In 1884 Lanman published the first edition of his Sanskrit Reader, which formed a standard introduction to that language for English-speaking students, remaining in print into the second half of the 20th century. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Rockwell-Lanman accessed 10/20/2017

Lanman, Charles Rockwell (8 July 1850-20 Feb. 1941), college professor, was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the son of Peter Lanman, a textile manufacturer, and Catherine Cook. After receiving his early education at the Norwich Free Academy, he entered Yale, where he was heavily influenced by William Dwight Whitney, a leading American scholar in Indo-European philology. Whitney had studied under Rudolf Roth at Tübingen, and he in turn inspired Lanman, who graduated with a B.A. in 1871, to continue his studies in Sanskrit. Lanman remained at Yale for two more years, earning his Ph.D. in 1873.

Lanman then traveled to Europe, where German universities offered graduate educational instruction far advanced from that available in American colleges. He took full advantage of his time abroad, studying at the Universities of Berlin and Leipzig and with Roth at Tübingen. Roth, who began the scientific study of the Veda, helped to refine his pupil's research interests, and under his guidance Lanman began work on his first paper, On Noun-Inflection in the Veda (1880).

Lanman returned to the United States in 1876 and immediately put his scholarly talents to work at the newly founded Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Under the leadership of President Daniel Coit Gilman, the university strove to provide Americans with the same grade of graduate-level training that had hitherto required overseas study. Lanman remained on the faculty of Hopkins for four years before accepting an invitation in 1880 to join Harvard University as professor of Sanskrit.

Lanman remained at Harvard until his retirement in 1926, and while there he rose to the top of his profession. In 1879 he became secretary of the American Philological Association and gained valuable experience in editing volumes 10 to 14 of the association's Transactions (1880-1884). He retained the position of secretary until 1884, when he became corresponding secretary of the American Oriental Society, serving additionally as joint editor of that organization's journal in the process. In 1888 Lanman married Mary Billings Hinckley; they had six children. Following the wedding, Lanman and his wife spent a year in India, during which time Lanman collected numerous Sanskrit and Prakrit manuscripts for the Harvard library. Upon returning to the United States he published the second volume of Sanskrit Reader, with Vocabulary and Notes in 1889 (the first volume appeared in 1884) with a view to the needs of language students everywhere. The introductory textbook was well received and was used by instructors for decades following its publication.

Upon returning to the United States, Lanman served as president of the Philological Association in 1889-1890 and then commenced work on the publications for which he is best known, the Harvard Oriental Series. Initiated by Lanman in 1891 and financed by a former student, Henry Clarke Warren, the series eventually reached thirty-six volumes. Consisting of texts, translations, and scholarly examinations of works in Sanskrit and other ancient languages of India, the series showcased the efforts of some of the leading philologists of the day, including Maurice Bloomfield, Arthur Berriedale Keith, Sten Konow, Karl Geldner, Johannes Hertel, Hendrik Kern, and Lanman's mentor Whitney. A landmark set of publications, the Harvard Oriental Series provided the basis for Vedic research. Lanman and Whitney cooperated in producing a translation and annotation of the Atharva Veda Sahit in 1905. Lanman also contributed a lively English translation to Konow's Rja-çekhara's Karpra-Mañjar (1901), providing him with the opportunity to display his own sense of humor while giving scholarly attention to a famous Prakrit comedy. Among the other standout volumes were Bloomfield's A Vedic Concordance (1906), translations of both the Yajur Veda (1914) and the Rig Veda Brhmanas (1920) by Keith, and Keith's The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads (1925).

Widely honored and recognized for his efforts, Lanman served as president of the American Oriental Society on two occasions (1907-1908 and 1919-1920) and enjoyed membership in more than a dozen foreign learned societies, including the Asiatic Society of Bengal (Calcutta) and the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences (Prague). He was selected as one of only eight non-Japanese academics to receive the Japanese Medal during celebrations surrounding the 2,500th anniversary of the birth of Buddha.

Lanman enjoyed a long and healthy retirement following his departure from Harvard. Indulging in his twin passions of horseback riding and sculling, he remained active until near the end of his life. His wife died in 1936. Lanman died in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Lanman will long be remembered for his efforts to apply the techniques of modern scholarship to the ancient languages of India. The increased accessibility of these languages to western scholars and the numerous academics who received their training under Lanman remain his greatest legacies.

Bibliography

Lanman's papers are divided between the Harvard University Archives and the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard. The best sources of information on Lanman continue to be obituaries in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Sept. 1941, and the Year Book of the American Philosophical Society, 1941. An obituary is also in the New York Times, 21 Feb. 1941.

Edward L. Lach, Jr.

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