A. Panizzi Esq.

[added in another hand:] c 13/12/56.

[added in another hand:] Rec^d 10/12/56.

[added in another hand:] 8

Sir

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6^th inst. in which you say

[indented on left:]
As there appears to be some misunderstanding between Sir Henry Rawlinson and yourself with respect to the lithographs of the Assyrian inscriptions which you requested the Trustees to forward to you, I am directed to inform you that until that misunderstanding is removed, your request cannot be complied with.
[end of indent]

This letter has surprised me very much and after reading it over two or three times I have come to the conclusion that the Trustees have been misinformed in this matter - owing to some mistake - and I therefore request you to do me the honour to lay before them this reply to the communication.

Your letter of the 6^th is I assure you the first I have heard of any misunderstanding existing between Sir H. Rawlinson and myself with respect to these lithographies.

Several weeks before I made application for them, through you, to the Trustees, I wrote to E. Norris Esq. Secretary to the Royal Asiatic Society, stating my intention of doing so- I requested him to apprize Sir H. Rawlinson of it, and to say, that if he (Sir H.) had the slightest objection, I would relinquish the idea- In reply Mr Norris said that he (M^r N.) approved highly of my intention and advised me to make application by letter to the Trustees, which I accordingly did-

Since my letter to M^r N. and his reply, I have had no communication whatever with Sir H. Rawlinson on the subject, nor has he given me the slightest intimation of any change of opinion on his part-

I can only therefor come to the conclusion that there has been a mistake. In my application to the Trustees I took care to explain that I would not forestall in any way the labours of others, by publishing anything of the contents of these lithographs (in the case, of course doubtful, of my being able to interpret them)until such time as Sir H.R's translation was published- But I thought that I was able to render a service to archæology by executing an independent translation and depositing it in the Archives of the Royal Asiatic Soc^y for comparison with the better and fuller, but I trust not discrepant translation, which may be expected from Sir H. Rawlinson- I was actuated in this matter simply by a love of science- I was not aware that it was due to the distinguished position of Sir H.R. to refer the matter to him in the rirst instance- I accordingly did so, and as he intimated no objection, I then proceeded to make application to the Trustees- Nor has Sir Henry since then, or at any time to my knowledge made any objection-

I now beg leave to place this matter in the hands of the Trustees, and to subscribe myself Yours very faithfully
H.F. Talbot