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This work, aggregating all 70 Phoenician inscriptions then known to exist, established Gesenius’ stature in Phoenician studies. In March 1839 Salisbury met the famous scholar in Halle: “In his features and expression of face he reminded me of some likenesses of Göthe, and his manners are … such as I have imagined those of the poet. He is quick in thought, and lively in conversation.†Then Gesenius opened his book and offered Salisbury a challenge: “He said I ought to be able, at least to read the characters, while I was obliged to tell him I could not.†But Salisbury was pleased with Gesenius’ praise for the accomplishments of Yale alumnus Eli Smith (1801-1857, class of 1821), a missionary in Syria and expert Arabist, and recalled: “I felt my own littleness of attainment, and a new impulse to exertion; it is good for one, although humiliating, to realize how far one comes short; w[oul]d that the impression might be abiding!â€
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In this excerpt from his journals, Salisbury candidly reveals his doubts about whether his intellectual endeavors would ever prove worthwhile, but feels stimulated to success by the heady scholarly atmosphere he is now immersed in. Finally, he describes the rigor of a German doctoral examination, unknown in the United States at that time.
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Bopp’s famous Comparative Grammar of Sanskrit, Zend, Armenian, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Old Slavic, Gothic, and German, originally published in six parts between 1833-1852. Salisbury’s copy of the first edition, used during his studies with Bopp in Germany, is in the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. The 1845 English translation of this work would become a standard textbook for Salisbury’s students after he took up his duties at Yale in 1843.
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Professor of theology at the University of Halle from 1810 until his death, Gesenius was also an expert in Semitic philology, bringing a scientific rather than theological approach to its study, and a founder of Phoenician studies.
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One of Germany’s prominent experts in Sanskrit and a pioneer in the study of the comparative grammar of Indo-European languages. He held the chair of Sanskrit and comparative grammar at the University of Berlin from 1821 to the end of his life.
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These two works by Silvestre de Sacy and the one by De Tassy above were elementary textbooks for the Hindustani and Arabic languages designed for the use of the students of the EÌcole speÌciale des langues orientales vivantes in Paris, and would have been used by Salisbury in his studies there.
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These two works by Silvestre de Sacy and the one by De Tassy above were elementary textbooks for the Hindustani and Arabic languages designed for the use of the students of the EÌcole speÌciale des langues orientales vivantes in Paris, and would have been used by Salisbury in his studies there.
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These two works by Silvestre de Sacy and the one by De Tassy above were elementary textbooks for the Hindustani and Arabic languages designed for the use of the students of the EÌcole speÌciale des langues orientales vivantes in Paris, and would have been used by Salisbury in his studies there.
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Salisbury on meeting the great Orientalist De Tassy: “He is conceited, that is certain, [I] learnt from him all I could about the advantages for Oriental studies in Paris—he is not impartial … and what am I to regulate these important matters of my life, all alone? I am almost ready to give up in despair;--but no, I am pledged to myself, and I yield not but to the helping hand of Providence.â€
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Salisbury wrote of his teacher, “De Sacy won all hearts by his perfect learning communicated with the gentlest mildness.â€
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Salisbury described his teacher in his journal as “a sprightly and vain little Frenchman, but most good-natured, complaisant and helpful to a beginner like myself.â€
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At this period, Western academic interest in Sanskrit was twofold: as a gateway to the ancient literature of India, at that time the oldest known written scriptures; and as a way to render precise translations of Biblical scripture into the holy language of the Hindus. This work is among Wilson’s contributions to these efforts.
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This bibliography of all known Sanskrit works by the prominent German-Russian linguist and bibliographer is the first scholarly title Salisbury mentions purchasing during his Grand Tour, after his meeting with H. H. Wilson, from the Oxford bookshop of the scholarly publisher and bookseller David Alphonso Talboys.
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From Salisbury’s journal: “I was, at once, struck with the professor’s sleek and trim appearance, so strongly contrasting with the disorderly, not to say slovenly exterior of most of our college-gentlemen—which is, I suppose, considered among some quite essential to the reputation of a scholar.â€
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