Thanks for the links. I have personally visited many Univ and talked to their top people - have seen thousands of such stacked - similarly, gone to publishing houses who have recd requests to publish such - they dont want to, since they are not sure of returns. another stack wasted there !!
I suspect that the issue may be with University of Madras folks who hold the rights with the author to that volume. In all likelihood, GoogleBooks sent a release request to them, and no one responded. Google does not need a copy from U of Madras, as it is readily available here in the US in several libraries, and has been fully scanned to text searchable format. In any case, it is a shame that a whole wealth of research in university libraries are yet to see the light of the day. The second link I sent seem encouraging where there is an effort to digitize PhD theses. The search engine, however, is quite primitive. The documents are not text-searchable - a primitive digital library!
In any case, with regard to the Ganesa you are in search of, I hope to lay my hands on the original soon.
That is indeed an excellent question. I assume from your query, its status and location is unknown?
Your question reminded me of Caldwell's opening paragraph of his book titled: Political and General History of the District of Tinnevelly published 1881. [Available in full text form in GoogleBooks]
I quote here:
Very little is known with certainty of the early history of most districts in India. It is a singular fact that the Hindus, though fond of philosophy and poetry, of law, mathematics, and architecture, of music and the drama, and especially of religious or theosophic speculations and disquisitions, seem never to have cared anything for history. The original meaning of the work "history" is investigation, and the Hindus never appear to have cared to investigate. There is hardly anything in the Indian Epic poems or Puranas that can be dignified by this name. ......
Can it be that it was through the prevalence in India of a succession of dreamy philosophies that history became virtually an unknown department of literature? This may have had something to do with it, but perhaps the chief cause was the fondness of the mass of the people in all ages for poetic embellishment. It seemed to them a dull thing to record any event in the history of a king or a country exactly as it happened.
I guess the above observation of Rev. Caldwell continues even today, eventhough India has adopted for a large part western education system.
An equally sad story is the so called discovery of Tamil-Brahmi script in Iron Age Urn at Adichanallu (The Hindu, Feb 17, 2005; Mahadevan interview Frontline Jul 01-17, 2009).