Sella Lihini Sandese. The Sella's Message by Sri Rahula of Totagamua. The text and translation, with notes and glossary for the use of students, edited and translated by William Charles Macready. by Sri Rahula; William Charles Macready, editor & translator - 1865

Colombo: Wesleyan Mission Press, 1865. First edition. 8vo (22 x 14 cm), pp.[ii], 72, xxxix, [1, blank], 101, [1, blank], [3, errata], [1, blank]. A very good copy bound in mid-20th century red cloth. Numerous pencil notes. The first published edition in any language of this classical Sinhalese poem by the 15th-century court poet Sri Rahula. The poem tells how the minister Nallurutunaya despatched a bird, Sella, from the court at Kotte to a temple at Kelaniya, seeking a blessing to bestow a son and heir on Ulakuda Devi, daughter of the king. Macready compiled this text for the use of students of Sinhalese. The first part comprises an edited Sinhalese text, followed by his literal English translation. The final hundred pages are an extensive Sinhalese-English glossary. We locate copies at Cleveland, Danish Royal Library, National Art Library, Newberry, and Oxford.