Pali Text Society is the pioneer institution which brought in print practically all the Pali canon commentaries. Rhys Davids conceived the idea of compiling an exhaustive dictionary of Pali, based on the voluminous basic material that was being brought to light. The work took more than twenty years of devoted labour, but before his death in 1922, he had the satisfaction of seeing its first volume published. In four volumes, issued over 1921-25, the dictionary contains practically every Pali word, with its Sanskrit root identified and meanings given in English. Carrying over 1,50,000 textual references, the work holds the field, even today as the best and most comprehensive Pali-English Dictionary.