This volume examines how the history of the humanities might be written through the prism of scholarly personae, understood as time- and place-specific models of being a scholar. Focusing on the field of study known as Orientalism in the decades around 1900, this volume examines how Semitists, Sinologists, and Japanologists, among others, conceived of their scholarly tasks, what sort of demands these job descriptions made on the scholar in terms of habits, virtues, and skills, and how models of being an orientalist changed over time under influence of new research methods, cross-cultural...

Reflecting a growing interest in the history of knowledge, this book explores the importance of scholarly virtues during the late nineteenth century. The practice of science is moulded on notions of scholarly values, such as diligence, impartiality, meticulousness and patience, but here, the author focuses on the virtues of collegial loyalty and critical independence. By analysing how virtues were reflected in day-to-day scholarly work, and examining the possibility that these virtues may have come into conflict with each other, this book sheds light on what is often described as ‘the moral...