Edwin Arnold - The Light of Asia (Three different editions) - 1892

1 "The Light of Asia, being the life and teaching of Gautama - Prince of India and Founder of Buddhism" by Sir Edwin Arnold and illustrated by Valenti Angelo - The Peter Pauper Press, 1946 limited edition of 1950 copies printed on specially made peter Pauper Press pauper, in original slipcase, with all illustrations present

2 "The Light of Asia or the great Renunciation being the life and teaching of Gautama" by Sir Edwin Arnold - Kegan Paul, London - 1900 edition - 14cmx12cm - condition: good, in original publisher's binding, minor rubbing, frontispiece loose but present

3 "The Light of Asia or the great Renunciation being the life and teaching of Gautama" by Sir Edwin Arnold - Kegan Paul, London - 1892 edition - 14cmx12cm - condition: very good, in fine leather binding, Edwin Arnold portrait as frontispiece

The Light of Asia, or The Great Renunciation (Mahâbhinishkramana), is a book by Sir Edwin Arnold. The first edition of the book was published in London in July 1879.

In the form of a narrative poem, the book endeavours to describe the life and time of Prince Siddharta Gautama, who, after attaining enlightenment, became the Buddha, the Awakened One. The book presents his life, character, and philosophy in a series of verses. It is a free adaptation of the Lalitavistara Sutra.

A few decades before the book's publication, very little was known outside Asia about the Buddha and Buddhism. Arnold's book was one of the first successful efforts to popularise Buddhism for a Western readership.[1][2] After receiving the poem from theosophists, Mahatma Gandhi was awed and his subsequent introduction to Madame Blavatsky and her Key to Theosophy inspired him to study his own religion.[3]

The book has been highly acclaimed from the time it was first published and has been the subject of several reviews. It has been translated into over thirty languages, including Hindi.