Britain neglected Oriental studies while France and Germany led the field
Evidence
In 1850, the distinguished scholar of Sanskrit and Persian, Edward Byles Cowell (1826–1903), made a similar point: ‘England, in spite of her vast opportunities, has done least for Oriental literature of the learned nations of Europe; France and Germany have in every department (except Lexicography, where Wilson stands unrivalled) left her far behind; and this reflection is truly humiliating when one visits the Library of East India House and sees the stores of Oriental lore, which lie on their shelves, unread and almost unknown. German scholars come over to London and study the MSS., to correct their own editions; but hardly a solitary English scholar can be found to avail himself of the treasures which his countrymen have brought from the East almost to his very door.’ — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 286
Related
- German Orientalists led the field despite Germany having no Arab empire. (similarity 0.84)
- Orientalism is chiefly a British and French cultural enterprise (similarity 0.83)
- British imperial power over Muslims did not translate into oriental scholarship (similarity 0.81)
- British, French, then American Orientalism follows the rise and fall of colonial empires (similarity 0.79)
- Major Orientalist scholarship was published in Latin into the twentieth century. (similarity 0.79)
- German Orientalists favored text editing while German readers sought broader popular accounts. (similarity 0.79)
- German Orientalism was purely scholarly because Germany lacked imperial presence in the Orient (similarity 0.79)
- Orientalism’s cult following grew among nonspecialists despite no corrections to its errors (similarity 0.79)
- Sustained national imperial interest was required for Orientalist scholarship to thrive (similarity 0.79)
- French and British Orientalist expertise differ in kind and political scope (similarity 0.78)
- Orientalism is only the visible tip of a larger modern structure. (similarity 0.78)
- German Orientalism stayed textual because Germany held no colonial presence in the Orient (similarity 0.78)