Jan Loop, Alastair Hamilton, and Charles Burnett. The Teaching and Learning of Arabic in Early Modern Europe (The History of Oriental Studies, vol. 3).

Abstract

This chapter presents a review of The Teaching and Learning of Arabic in Early Modern Europe edited by Jan Loop, Alastair Hamilton, and Charles Burnett. The book features a collection of essays that grew out of a conference with a similar title held in Leiden in 2013, but represents a thoroughly updated and expanded body of work. The title words ‘and Learning’ emphasize an important feature: whereas most existing treatments of Arabic studies in this period concentrate on their pursuit in the formal setting of the universities, several of the contributors examine how the language was acquired in other contexts. Notable in this respect is Mordechai Feingold’s ‘Learning Arabic in Early Modern England’, which illustrates the importance of self-study, even in the universities.