The Republic of Arabic Letters
eBook - PDF

The Republic of Arabic Letters

Islam and the European Enlightenment

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Republic of Arabic Letters

Islam and the European Enlightenment

About this book

Winner of the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize
A Longman–History Today Book Prize Finalist
A Sheik Zayed Book Award Finalist
Winner of the Thomas J. Wilson Memorial Prize
A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year


"Deeply thoughtful…A delight."—The Economist

"[A] tour de force…Bevilacqua's extraordinary book provides the first true glimpse into this story…He, like the tradition he describes, is a rarity."
New Republic

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a pioneering community of Western scholars laid the groundwork for the modern understanding of Islamic civilization. They produced the first accurate translation of the Qur'an, mapped Islamic arts and sciences, and wrote Muslim history using Arabic sources. The Republic of Arabic Letters is the first account of this riveting lost period of cultural exchange, revealing the profound influence of Catholic and Protestant intellectuals on the Enlightenment understanding of Islam.

"A closely researched and engrossing study of…those scholars who, having learned Arabic, used their mastery of that difficult language to interpret the Quran, study the career of Muhammad…and introduce Europeans to the masterpieces of Arabic literature."
—Robert Irwin, Wall Street Journal

"Fascinating, eloquent, and learned, The Republic of Arabic Letters reveals a world later lost, in which European scholars studied Islam with a sense of affinity and respect…A powerful reminder of the ability of scholarship to transcend cultural divides, and the capacity of human minds to accept differences without denouncing them."
—Maya Jasanoff

"What makes his study so groundbreaking, and such a joy to read, is the connection he makes between intellectual history and the material history of books."
Financial Times

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Yes, you can access The Republic of Arabic Letters by Alexander Bevilacqua in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Early Modern History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Epigraphs
  5. Contents
  6. Note on Terminology, Names, Transliteration, and Dates
  7. List of Protagonists
  8. List of Frequently Discussed Arabic and Islamic Authors
  9. Introduction
  10. 1​. ​The Oriental Library
  11. 2​. ​The Qur’an in Translation
  12. 3​. ​A New View of Islam
  13. 4​. ​D’Herbelot’s Oriental Garden
  14. 5​. ​Islam in History
  15. 6​. ​Islam and the Enlightenment
  16. Epilogue
  17. Abbreviations
  18. Notes
  19. Selected Bibliography
  20. Acknowledgments
  21. Index
  22. Color Plates