Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Copyright page / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Dedication / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Acknowledgements / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Figures / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Introduction A Biography of a Seventeenth-Century Orientalist: Its Sources and Significance for Understanding Oriental Studies in Early Modern Germany / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Chapter 1 The Making of a Seventeenth-Century Orientalist / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Chapter 2 Early Endeavours / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Chapter 3 Harmonia Linguarum Orientalium / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Chapter 4 Travels in the Republic of Letters / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Chapter 5 Professor of History (1652-1655) / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Chapter 6 Umbra in luce : A Fragmented World History of Religion / Asaph Ben-Tov -- A Hieroglyphic Farewell / Asaph Ben-Tov -- A Selection of Letters to Gerhard from Hiob Ludolf and Johann Zechendorff in the Gerhardina Collection / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Bibliography / Asaph Ben-Tov -- Index / Asaph Ben-Tov.

In this biography of Johann Ernst Gerhard (1621-1668) Asaph Ben-Tov offers a study of a now forgotten yet unusually well documented seventeenth-century orientalist. Gerhard, the son of the famous Lutheran theologian Johann Gerhard, is not a towering figure but rather a fascinating representative of the academic culture of his day, especially of seventeenth-century oriental studies. His extant Nachlass allows a close scrutiny of the life and work of an early modern scholar, focussing on his training, travels, the ambitious Harmonia linguarum orientalium (1647) and other works, and the interests he fostered as a professor of history and theology in Jena. It aims to shed light on the broad and understudied field of oriental studies in seventeenth-century Germany.

Description based on print version record.