The financial difficulties which Sir Asutosh Mookerjee experienced in developing the Post-Graduate Department of the Calcutta University have now become a matter of history. The publication of the Assamese selections would have been postponed indefinitely but for the patriotism and generosity of Srijut Bholanath Barua who was a well-known figure in the business circles of Northern India. During the second session of the All-India Oriental Conference, held at Calcutta in January, 1922, Sir Asatosh in the company of Mr. Goswami personally approached Mr. Barua for financial assistance in the publication of the Assamese selections. The irresistible appeal of Sir Agutosh readily obtained the aid solicited, and Sir Asutosh mentioned in his Convocation Speech of March, 1922,—"Mr. Bholanath Barua, one of the most enlightened sons of Assam, has offered a handsome donation of rupees ten thousand to meet the cost of publication of the Assamese selections."
The original plan of the typical selections from Assamese literature was to publish the pieces in two volumes, of one thousand pages each. The first volume was to contain the selections from the first four periods, and the second volume from the last two periods. "An introduction in English will be added to the first volume, dealing with the history of the language and literature, and a glossary of the archaic words with meanings will be put at the end of the second volume." The original plan included provisions for illustrations, and index, and notices of the authors included in the compilation, which would have immensely added to the value and utility of the book. But Mr. Goswami's continuously failing health culminating in his untimely demise did not make it possible to publish the book according to the original plan.
Convenience and bulk dictated the division of the book into three volumes, & scheme which was subsequently adopted by Mr. Goswami in July, 1923. The first volume was to contain the first four periods, the second volume the fifth
