Introduction to the Science of Religion; Four Lectures Delivered at the Royals Institution in February and March, 1870.

MULLER, Max.

Editore: Spottiswood & Co., London, 1870

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First edition. One of only 16 copies printed; this is copy no. 4 and it was presented to His Highness Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. Octavo. 61. [1] pp. Printed in two columns. Contemporary presentation binding of full sang-grain red morocco, gilt cover lettering. a.e.g. Some light rubbing to leather joints, board edges a tad darker and scattered foxing (mostly to endpapers). A very good copy.Max Muller was educated in Sanskrit, the classical language of India, and other languages in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris. He moved to England in 1846 and settled in Oxford in 1848, where he became deputy professor of modern languages in 1850. He was appointed professor of comparative philology in 1868 and retired in 1875. Muller?s special areas of interest were Sanskrit philology and the religions of India and his accomplishments in those fields are prodigious; he was responsible for translation of The Sacred Hymns of the Brahmans (6 vol., 1849?74); chief editor of the 51-volume series of translations published as The Sacred Books of the East; and did the initial editing of the series Sacred Books of the Buddhists. But more importantly Muller is often hailed as the founder of comparative religion. "Müller was an important early proponent of a discipline that he called the ?science of religion?; indeed, some credit him with founding that field. His most important writings on the subject include Essays on the Science of Religion (1869), vol. 1 of Chips from a German Workshop; Introduction to the Science of Religion (1873); and Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion (1878). Instead of using the prevailing ethnographic approach, Muller pursued the science of religion by studying words and texts. He acknowledged that religion had developed differently in different linguistic spheres and that his training limited him to a consideration of Aryan peoples?that is, speakers of Indo-European languages. Nevertheless, he was convinced that the Rigveda provided unparalleled access to the process by which religion arose." (EB) In layman's terms, Muller was epochal as he believed the commonality that all religions shared was the consciousness of the Infinite. A common idea in this century but decidedly not in his.

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• Titolo: Introduction to the Science of Religion; Four Lectures Delivered at the Royals Institution in February and March, 1870.
• Editore: Spottiswood & Co., London
• Data di pubblicazione: 1870