Christianus Ravius: an Intellectual Biography: 1. The Wanderjahre (The History of Oriental Studies, 16) - Hardcover

Toomer, Gerald

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9004679677 ISBN 13: 9789004679672

Publisher: Brill, 2023

Synopsis

Christianus Ravius (Christian Raue, 1613-1677) led a life of remarkable variety, which illustrates many aspects of the career of a scholar in seventeenth century Europe. This biography, the first full-length treatment of him since 1744, covers the first three decades of his eventful career, from the Gymnasium in his native Berlin through Germany, Scandiniavia, Holland, England and the Ottoman Empire. Drawing on much previously unexploited evidence, and on detailed analyses of his numerous published works, it presents a picture of a scholar trying to establish himself in the Republic of Letters, cultivating the acquaintance of many contemporary scholars, including such great names as Hugo Grotius, John Selden, James Ussher, Claudius Salmasius, Johannes Buxtorf II, G. J. Vossius and Jaobus Golius.
In the background of his precarious existence looms the Thirty Years’ War, which was a cause not only of his parents’ early death but also of the devastation of his family’s estate and his persistent poverty. Despite his failure to obtain a permanent position in any 0f the universities with which he was associated during this time, he persisted in promoting the study of oriental languages, especially Arabic. This led to his stay of two years in Constantinople and other parts of the Ottoman Empire, where he managed to acquire the remarkable collection of oriental manuscripts which was an important element in his attempts to attain employment and recognition. This study includes an account of the identity and present location of almost three hundred of those manuscripts, and also an edition of many unpublished letters from his extensive correspondence which are relevant to the narrative of his life. Ravius’s idiosyncratic theories on linguistic history receive due attention.

About this title

About the Author

G. J. Toomer was educated at Oxford and Brown Universities and is Professor Emeritus of the History of Mathematics at Brown University. He has published extensively on the history of mathematics and astronomy, and on seventeenth-century intellectual history. His most recent book is John Selden: a Life in Scholarship (Oxford, 2009)

Edition details

• Publisher: Brill
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004679677
• ISBN 13: 9789004679672
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448