Johann Ernst Gerhard (1621-1668) The Life and Work of a Seventeenth-Century Orientalist

Description

This biography of Johann Ernst Gerhard (1621-1668) studies of the richly documented life and work of a lesser-known seventeenth-century orientalist, setting them within the broader intellectual, confessional, and institutional contexts of his day. Contents Acknowledgements Figures Introduction A Biography of a Seventeenth-Century Orientalist: Its Sources and Significance for Understanding Oriental Studies in Early Modern Germany Chapter 1 The Making of a Seventeenth-Century Orientalist 1 First Academic Appearances 2 Studying Oriental Languages 3 Studying Ethiopic in Jena 4 Commonplace Learning Chapter 2 Early Endeavours 1 His Father’s Editor 2 Inherited Enemies: The Case of Barthold Nihus 3 History 4 Biblical Scholarship and Antiquarianism 5 The Syriac Bible Chapter 3 Harmonia Linguarum Orientalium 1 Gerhard and the Tradition of Harmonic Linguistics 2 Harmonia Linguarum Orientalium (1647) 3 Some Immediate Reactions to the Harmonia 4 Fata libelli Chapter 4 Travels in the Republic of Letters 1 Altdorf, Nuremberg, and Regensburg 2 Iter ad mare balticum – A Tour of War-Ravaged Northern Germany (1642) 3 The Grand Tour: Itinerarium Belgicum (1650–1651) Chapter 5 Professor of History (1652–1655) 1 Cyrus, Athens, Alexander the Great, and the Mirror of Princes Chapter 6 Umbra in luce: A Fragmented World History of Religion 1 Professor of Theology 2 The Armenian, Muscovite, Coptic, and Maronite Churches 3 Armenia (1665) 4 The Muscovites (1665) 5 The Copts (1666) and the Maronites (1668) 6 Beyond Church History 7 Islam 8 Umbra in luce (1667) 9 An Unexpected Prelude: Justinian von Weltz (1621–1668?) and His Mission to the Heathens 10 Shadow, Light, and Penumbra 11 Christian Hoffmann’s Umbra in luce (1667) A Hieroglyphic Farewell and Concluding Comments Appendix A Selection of Letters to Gerhard from Hiob Ludolf and Johann Zechendorff in the Gerhardina Collection 1 Hiob Ludolf to Johann Ernst Gerhard Bibliography Index