The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-Century EnglandG. A. Russell The medieval concern with Arabic is well established. There was, however, a 'second wave' of Arabic interest in seventeenth-century Europe, which is not widely known. The essays in this volume reveal that, contrary to all expectation, the study of Arabic was pursued by a circle of natural philosophers, philologists and theologians in England in close contact with those on the Continent. Arabic was defended as an aid to biblical exegesis and as the key to a 'treasure house' of ancient knowledge. It led to the founding of Arabic chairs at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, endowed by archbishops and merchants. Arabic was taught, along with Hebrew, at Westminster school. Immense collections of Arabic manuscripts were acquired both privately and by libraries, such as the Bodleian at Oxford. They were sought after by natural philosophers in their research in observational astronomy or in the reconstruction of Greek mathematics. Arabic was also part of the Anglican interest in Eastern Churches. In addition to the earlier elegant editions of the Medici Press at Rome, bi-lingual texts, grammars, lexicons, and histories, were published by trained Arabists. Forgeries emerged based on Arabo-Latin alchemical texts. Arabic was included in the concern with a universal philosophical language. Arabic subjects featured extensively in the correspondence of the Royal Society. The impact of translated texts extended to the Quakers as well as to individual figures, such as Locke. In short, at a time when least expected, Arabic interest permeated all levels of English society, encompassing subjects which ranged from science, religion, and medicine, to typography and importing garden plants. Fourteenhistorians from different disciplines examine the extent and sources of this phenomenon. Arabic interest is shown to have been a significant aspect of the rise of Protestant intellectual tradition. It was also a major component of University reforms and of secular academic scholarship at Oxford and Cambridge. Thus the period also marks the institutionalisation of Arabic studies. By identifying many unexpected 'Arabick' strands in the complex skein of seventeenth-century English concerns, this volume opens new lines of investigation and challenges some of the accepted historical interpretations of the period. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 50
Page 1
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 7
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 9
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 28
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 32
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Contents
The Arabic inscription included on Edmund Castells own monument | 1 |
Background to Arabic Studies in SeventeenthCentury | 20 |
The English Interest in the ArabicSpeaking Christians | 30 |
Arabists and Linguists in SeventeenthCentury England | 54 |
Edmund Castell and His Lexicon Heptaglotton 1669 | 70 |
The monument to Sir Thomas Adams in St Mary and St Margaret | 77 |
The Medici Oriental Press Rome 15841614 and the Impact | 88 |
The firman of Sultan Murad III issued at Istanbul in AH 996 | 99 |
English Orientalists and Mathematical Astronomy | 158 |
Pocockes John | 224 |
The title page of the Philosophus autodidactus 1671 | 225 |
A portrait of John Locke d 1704 engraved by H Robinson from | 235 |
A portrait of Dr Edward Pococke d 1699 | 241 |
English Medical Writers and their Interest in Classical Arabic | 266 |
The Case of the Summa perfectionis | 278 |
Coronary Flowers and their Arabick Background | 297 |
Other editions - View all
The 'Arabick' Interest of the Natural Philosophers in Seventeenth-century ... G. A. Russell No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
Abū al-Din Aleppo Anglican Arabian Arabic manuscripts Arabic medicine Arabic studies Arabic text Arabick Arabist astronomy Avicenna Bernard Bodleian Library Bodley Cambridge Castell Catalogue chair chaplain Christians Church collection College commentary Constantinople copy Correspondence East eastern eclipses edition Edmund Castell Edward Pococke England English Erpenius Essay Geber Golius grammar Greek Halley Hebrew History Huntington Ibid interest in Arabic Islamic Jacobus Golius John Greaves John Locke John Wallis Kitāb language Latin translation Laud Laudian learning lecture Leiden letter Levant Company Lexicon libri Locke's London Maronite mathematics Medicean medieval MS.Huntington MS.Laud MS.Marsh MS.Pococke Muslim notes observations Oldenburg oriental orientalist Ottoman Oxford Paris Pasor Persian Philosophus autodidactus Pococke's printed Professor professorships Ptolemy published quod Qur'an Raphelengius reference Rome Royal Society Savile Savilian scholars seventeenth century sources study of Arabic Summa tables Thomas Thomas Erpenius Twells Ulugh Ulugh Beg University Ussher vols Wallis William Bedwell writing