Buddhism: Scarce Early Example of the Introduction of Eastern Thought To Europe, Le Philosophe Indien, 1760

Brahmin

First Edition

[DODSLEY, Robert, also sometimes attributed to the Earl of Chesterfield]. Le Philosophe Indien, ou L'Art de Vivre Heureux dans la Societe. Renfermés dans un petit nombre de Preceptes les plus épurés de la Morale; redigé par un ancien Bramine [English:The economy of human life: translated from an Indian manuscript, written by an ancient Bramin} Contained in a small number of the most refined Precepts of Morality; written by a former Bramine,] Amsterdam: Chez E. Van Harrevelt, 1760. Leather binding. 108 pages; measures approximately 5.25" x 3" inches. Text is in French. Gilt edges and attractively marbled endpapers. The 18th century saw a surge of interest in "Indian Philosophy" in Europe, thanks in large part to an increasing number of missionary reports coming out of Asia. Voltaire (1694–1778) went so far as to assert that India, and not Mesopotamia, was the birthplace of both the world's civilizations and primary religious doctrines. It was at this moment in the eighteenth century that the new European study of Indology was born, taking the translation of Sanskrit literary, religious, and philosophical classics for its subject. Some 18th century scholars argued that t the Sanskrit language was the earliest manifestation of a "common source" of all European languages and insisted that the study of classical Indian philosophy could enhance and renew the European philosophical tradition. This 1760 edition is one of the earliest examples of the introduction of Brahmin teachings to the European continent, which would go on to influence such thinkers as Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Husserl, Sartre, and Heidegger. Only 6 copies of this edition held worldwide in any library or collection and only 2 in the United States, per OCLC Wolrdcat.

Item #16861

Price: $480.00