Friedrich Max Müller and the Sacred Books of the East

247 Pages·2016·1.28 MB·English

by  Arie L. Molendijk

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FRIEDRICH MAX MÜLLER AND THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
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PortraitofFriedrichMaxMüller
PhotoW.Forshaw,Cassell’sUniversalPortraitGallery,
London,Paris,andMelbourne1895,p.319.
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Friedrich Max Müller
and the Sacred Books
of the East
ARIE L. MOLENDIJK
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,22/6/2016,SPi
3
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‘Onusanewlighthascome’
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Preface
The Sacred Books of the East series teaches us at least one lesson,
according to its auctor intellectualis Friedrich Max Müller, namely
that‘wearenottheonlypeoplewhohaveaBible’.Inhisview,these
scholarly translations would contribute to both the historical study
of oriental religions and to our own religious self-understanding.1
Müller had no doubts that the serious study of the Orient would be
beneficial ‘for us’ in intellectual as well as religious respects. The
editorial work of Max Müller was much appreciated not only in the
West,butalsoinIndia.Inthe1960stheSacredBooksoftheEastwere
acceptedintheIndianTranslationSeriesoftheUNESCOCollection
of Representative Works (1948–2005), jointly sponsored by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)andtheGovernmentofIndia.2
The idea to devote a larger study to the series emerged during my
stay at the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities
‘DynamicsintheHistoryofReligionsbetweenAsiaandEurope’atthe
RuhrUniversityofBochum,fromMay2010toMay2011.Somewhat
remotely, the title of the consortium reminded me of Max Müller’s
overlyoptimisticviewsofthedeepconnectionsandfruitfulexchanges
betweenEastandWest.Idevelopedthisprojectinsomedetaillateron
andwashappytobeabletopursuethisventureduringmysabbaticalin
2012–13 at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the
Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS) in Wassenaar. I am grateful
to the directors and hosts of both institutions, professors Volkhard
Krech and LucianHölscherin Bochum,and Professor Aafke Hulk in
Wassenaar.TheNIASlibrarystaffwereoftremendoushelpingetting
copiesofrarebookstomystudyintheoldWassenaarvillawherethe
Fellowshadtheirrooms.NIASalsofundedthecostsforthecorrection
ofonechapterofthebook.Thesomewhatsecludedlocationprovided
1 MaxMüller,‘ForgottenBibles’,NineteenthCentury15(1884)1004–22,p.1021;
reprintedinLastEssays.SecondSeries:EssaysontheScienceofReligion,Londonetc.:
Longmans,Green,andCo.,1901,pp.1–35.
2 Cf. <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000681/068108fo.pdf>; Etiemble,
‘“Connaissance de l’Orient”’, Le Courrier [published monthly by the UNESCO in
32languages]39(Janvier1986),9–11,32,note7.