Eastern Wisedome and Learning: The Study of Arabic in Seventeenth-Century England

This book narrates the extraordinary growth in the study of Arabic in England from the late sixteenth century, when it was almost non-existent, to the end of the seventeenth. By its high point around 1666, England was pre-eminent among European countries in the study of Arabic. Permanent Chairs of Arabic had been established at Oxford and Cambridge, and specialized presses in Oxford and London had produced Arabic works. The Professor at Oxford, Edward Pococke, was recognized as the foremost scholar in the field in Europe, and a great collection of Arabic manuscripts, begun by Archbishop Laud, was being built up at Oxford.In this masterly and original study, Professor Toomer gives the first detailed account of this process, set against the religious and political background in England and Europe. He shows how trade with the Ottoman Empire and mistrust of Islam influenced the study of Arabic. Finally, he traces the course and causes of the drastic decline in Arabic studies towards the end of the century.

Review :
`a treasure-trove that any student of the contacts between Europe and the Islamic workd can now use a s guide in order to elaborate any of the issues not already covered extensively by Toomer ... the analytical expositions of the author are carfully woven together and constitute in themselves a rich groundwork for dissertations in progress and those yet to be written.' George Saliba, Jnl of the American Oriental Soc. 1209.1 (2000). `Toomer's book has the erudition and meticulous scholarship that has always marked his work.' George Saliba, Jnl of the American Oriental Soc. 1209.1 (2000). `This erudite and well-written book immediately establishes itself as the authoritative treatment of its subject ... The real novelty of this book lies in its compendiousness, and its mainly biographical structure will make it a ready source of reference for others. Toomer gives succinct accounts of the lives and careers of all the major English Arabists.' Scott Mandelbrote, Ecclesiastical History `fascinating.... by far the best survey of Arabic studies in seventeenth-century England to date.' Times Literary Supplement `Professor Toomer's prose is chaste and clear, and his book is founded on meticulous scholarship which will arouse admiration and envy.' James Craig, Asian Affairs, February 1997 `The author is to be congratulated on an extremely thoroughly researched, systematic and detailed account of Arabic studies in seventeenth-century England. The present work is based on a very wide range of printed primary and secondary sources, and on unpublished materials, hitherto largely unexplored, in the Bodleian and British Libraries and the Public Record Office.' P.M. Holt, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 60, No. 2, '97