Humboldt, Karl Wilhelm Von.

Uber die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaues und ihrem Einfluss auf die geistige Entwickelung des Menschengeschlechts [as contained in vol. I of Uber die Kawi-sprache auf der Insel Java...].

Berlin: Konigliche Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1836. 4to, pp. xxiv [2] ccccxxx; extremities rubbed; later blue buckram, paper labels on spine, university bookplate with discard stamp. Humboldt (1767-1835), the founder of the University of Berlin who showed the philological commonality of Spain with the north of Africa, was the older brother of the more celebrated Alexander von Humboldt. Published posthumously, this book is the epitome of his career. It was edited by his brother, Alexander and Dr. Buschmann in 1836 and was published separately in 1836 under its own title. "Also published as an introduction to Uber die Kawi-sprach..., 1836. Only a small number of copies were issued separately. cf. "'Vorwort' by Alexandre v. Humboldt" (NUC). "Eventually, he turned to the study of the ancient Kawi language of Java. The work remained only a fragment when Humboldt died; but he had completed a lengthy foreword on The Heterogeneity of Language and its Influence on the Intellectual Development of Mankind (Uber die Verschiedenheit...) which was edited by his younger brother ... the great traveler and naturalist, and published posthumously ... In the words of A.H. Sayce, a great philologist of our own day: 'This essay first clearly laid down that the character and structure of a language expresses the inner life and knowledge of the speakers, and that languages must differ from one another in the same way and to the same degree as those who use them'" [PMM]. Graesse III, 390; Printing and the Mind of Man, 301. Item #6789

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