Ueber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier

Critic, poet and essayist Friedrich von Schlegel (1772–1829) was a leading figure of German Romanticism. Believed to be autobiographical, his unfinished novel Lucinde caused a scandal in 1799 because of its portrayal of a sexual liaison. After exploring the development of philosophy, Schlegel increasingly turned his attention to the study of Sanskrit and Hindu religious writings. This work on the connections between Sanskrit and Indo-European languages, first published in German in 1808, is regarded as an important early contribution to comparative grammar – it was Schlegel himself who introduced this term into linguistics. He was inspired by the example of comparative anatomy, and he also promoted the idea of family trees for languages. The Aesthetic and Miscellaneous Works of Frederick von Schlegel (1849), in English translation, is also reissued in this series.