Hugh George Rawlinson was born in Middlesborough in 1880 and went, as a scholar, to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He graduated with a First Class degree in the Classics Tripos and gained the Hare University Prize. In 1903 he joined the Education Service of the Government of Ceylon and in 1908 moved to the Indian Education Service. He became Principal of the Karnatak College in Dharwar and later, Principal of Deccan College in Poona, where he stayed until his retirement in 1933.
Rawlinson was a prolific writer about Indian history and related themes and also acted as editor for several volumes. On his return to England he lectured in Classics at Birkbeck College, London. He was a Member of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1944-1954 and wrote an article, "Indian Influences on Western Culture" (JRAS 1947, pp.142-150) for the Journal of the Society. He died, in London, on 8 June 1957.
Hartwig Hirschfeld was born in Thorn, Prussia. After graduating from the Royal Marien Gymnasium in Posen, Hirschfeld studied Oriental languages and philosophy at the University of Berlin. He received his doctorate from the University of Strasburg in 1878 and, after a year's compulsory service in the Prussian Army, he obtained a travelling scholarship in 1882 which enabled him to study Arabic and Hebrew at Paris under Joseph Derenbourg.
Hirschfeld immigrated to England in 1889, where he became professor of Biblical exegesis, Semitic languages, and philosophy at the Montefiore College. In 1901, he was invited by the Syndicate of Cambridge University to examine the Arabic fragments in the Taylor-Schechter collection. That same year, he was appointed librarian and professor of Semitic languages at Jews' College, a position he occupied until 1929. He became a lecturer in Semitic epigraphy at University College London in 1903, a Reader in Ethiopic in 1906, and Goldsmid Lecturer in Hebrew there in 1924.
He published many works including the volume included in these papers. He is known for his editions of Judah Halevi's Kuzari, which he published in its original Judeo-Arabic and in Hebrew, German and English translations, and his studies on the Cairo Geniza.