A study of the life and works of Athanasius Kircher, "Germanus incredibilis" : with a selection of his unpublished correspondence and an annotated translation of his autobiography...
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Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit in 17th-century Rome, was an enigma. Intensely pious and a prolific author, he was also a polymath fascinated with everything from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the tiny creatures in his microscope. His correspondence with popes, princes and priests was a window into the restless energy of the period. It showed first-hand the seventeenth-century's struggle for knowledge in astronomy, microscopy, geology, chemistry, musicology, Egyptology, horology... The list goes on. Kircher's books reflect the mind-set of 17th-century scholars - endless curiosity and a substantial larding of naiveté: Kircher scorned alchemy as the wishful thinking of charlatans, yet believed in dragons. His life and correspondence provide a key to the transition from the Middle Ages to a new scientific age. This book, though unpublished, has been long quoted and referred to. Awaited by scholars and specialists of Kircher, it is finally available with this edition.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004216327 :
1871-1405 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Risāla-yi Ḥātimiyya /
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Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī, a pre-Islamic poet from the late sixth century CE, is especially known for his chivalry and magnanimity. A member of the tribe of Ṭayy in Yemen, he is mainly associated with the court of the Lakhmids in Ḥīra in Mesopotamia under king Nuʿmān b. Mundhir (reg. ca. 580-602). His poetry centers around the qualities that earned him his fame, even if part of the poems ascribed to him may be later inventions. Legend has it that his grandfather, who was his guardian, abandoned him when he saw that his grandson's generosity was incurable. Four mourning girls, hewn in stone, lined his grave, together with the cooking pots from which he had served his guests. A popular character in medieval Arabic literature, no separate work was ever dedicated to him, unlike the Persian tradition. The present text on his life and deeds by Wāʿiẓ Kāshifī (d. 910/1504-5) is the oldest to exist in Persian.
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1 online resource. :
9789004407299
9786002031297
Knowledge triumphant : the concept of knowledge in medieval Islam /
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In Knowledge Triumphant , Franz Rosenthal observes that the Islamic civilization is one that is essentially characterized by knowledge ( 'ilm ), for 'ilm is one of those concepts that have dominated Islam and given Muslim civilization its distinctive shape and complexion.' There is no branch of Muslim intellectual and daily life that remained untouched by the all-pervasive attitude towards 'knowledge' as something of supreme value for Muslim being. With a new foreword by Dimitri Gutas.
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Previously published: 1970. With new introduction. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047410959 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.