<EN crest>
Brompton
18h March, 1871
My dear Sir,
I have just dispatched the three sheets; being so few I have doubled them, but hope they will reach you undamaged. Thank you very much for your information about muttabbilt<u?>. I have found the word you mention; it is l 10 of Bellino. You will see two more in my dic. p 754. which I had forgotten I have rendered them supporters: correct for Tig.i 15, the great gods must be supporters of heaven and earth, not musicians; the second also Sen T. i. 32 malgré <cuneiform> male and female, but in As.b.p. vi. 66, we have hunutu muttabbiltu, which must be instruments musical, see hunutu in my p. 291. I derive it from <unknown language> the viol, or prattery, your nabala
I quite agree with you that Smith may be occasionally corrected, and oftener doubted, or at least looked upon as uncertain, but his translations are on the whole the best that have appeared; he is mounted on the shoulders of all the workers, and I am frequently ashamed to see that he sees in a moment what I boggle at in vain; moreover Ashurbanipal is difficult and damaged; I am very busy now for the Winter, or would point out a few errors which I think he has made. My letter M is done at last after something above 200 pages and I am looking through it for a small appendix of additions and corrections which is very heavy work.
I remain Yours faithfully
Edwin Norris
P.S. Smith is probably right in <cuneiform> he has found many valuable fragments of bilingual slabs pointing out <such?> monograms I fear he is going to finish without his pièces justifications; the printer told me so two or three days ago; I was and am very sorry for it, and will try to persuade him to go on
H. F. Talbot, Esq
&c &c