Revd Dr Hincks
Lacock Abbey
Janry 13/ 57
Dr Sir
Since I printed my translation I have obtained a copy of the facsimile which Grotefend <1>published of the Bellino <2>Cylinder. I was surprised to find that several passages which are hardly intelligible in the British Museum publication, are quite plain in the facsimile, and I wish I had seen it earlier. It appears that this facsimile was made at Bagdad by Bellino in the year 1819, and it certainly does the greatest credit to his accuracy and skill. In my opinion the best thing Grotefend ever did in the way of cuneiform discovery, was the publication of this, and the other facsimiles which he received from Bellino. - I observe that you agree with Rawlinson <3>in reading one of the Kings names as Tiglath Pileser - I should be very glad to be informed on what evidence this reading rests, in order that I may adopt it myself - In p. 623 of Layard <4>you have transcribed this name Shimish-bal-BithKhira. In the same page you mention the "Bavian tablets", and you refer to them elsewhere - In what book are these published? I have never met with them as far as I am aware.
My friend Sir Thomas Phillipps <5>has got in his possession the Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder which Grotefend published in the 4th vol of the Transactns of the Royal Society of Gottingen - I examined it a short time ago - It appears to have been considerably defaced during the last 30 years, for it is certainly more difficult to read now than Grotefend's facsimile -
I think it is quite clear that your translations, now in the British Museum, ought to be published by the Trustees, & with such additional Notes as your advanced Knowledge may suggest. And I think that the Trustees would be of the same opinion if the matter were properly represented to them - It appears to me that the Trustees are liberally disposed, as indeed might be expected from men of their Eminence - At present I do not think they are aware of the circumstances you mention, and their attention should be called to it - Some one of the Trustees might be requested to bring forward the subject at a meeting of the Board, and it is probable that something satisfactory might then be arranged - I should be happy to be of any use, in applying to some of the Trustees personally, if you wish, or in any other way and remain,
Dr Sir Yours very Truly
H. F. Talbot
Notes:
1. Georg Friedrich Grotefend (1775-1853), archaeologist and philologist.
2. Karl Bellino (1791-1820), German Assyriologist.
3. Sir Henry Creswick Rawlinson, 1st Baronet (1810-1895), orientalist.
4. Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894), archaeologist and Assyrian scholar.
5. Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), antiquary and book and manuscript collector extraordinaire.