Paulinus a S. Bartholomaeo's Dissertatio historico-critica in linguam Samscrdamicam (1790) serves as an introduction to his Sidharubam, the first Sanskrit grammar published in Europe. The Dissertatio is also important for another reason: it is concerned with speculations about the nature and origin of Sanskrit and the other Indian Languages. It raises questions about their relation to each other and to languages outside India. It bears witness to the fact that Paulinus was on of those few who heralded the era of comparative philology long before its official consecration. In addition, it offers an opportunity to study the range of working instruments available to Indic scholarship at the end of the 18th century.This volume contains a fac simile edition of the Latin original, an English translation, an introductory article, and an index of sources.