Anton Schiefner (1817-1879). Briefe und Schriftenverzeichnis

Der bedeutende, aus Reval (dem heutigen Tallinn) gebürtige Linguist Anton Schiefner (1817–1879) nimmt durch seine Vielseitigkeit,seine Fachkenntnisse, die große Zahl seiner Veröffentlichungen und sein weitgespanntes Netzwerk eine besondere Stellung in der Wissenschaftsgeschichte ein. Vom Studium her klassischer Philologe und Jurist, bildete er sich zum Indologen und Finnougristen; als Petersburger Akademiemitglied vertrat er die Tibetologie, und in amtlichem Auftrag gab er die Werke des frühverstorbenen finnischen Forschungsreisenden und Ethnographen Castrén und die Forschungsergebnisse des Barons Uslar über die kaukasischen Sprachen heraus. Schiefners Briefe geben ein lebendiges Bild von den Fortschritten der Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaften für einen Zeitraum von knapp 30 Jahren. Projekte, neue Publikationen, der wissenschaftliche Nachwuchs, Studienreisen, aber auch Persönliches, darüber hinaus die Situation in den Ostseeprovinzen sowie in St. Petersburg sind die Hauptthemen. Einzelschwerpunkte des vorliegenden Bandes sind die speziellen Interessen der Adressaten – so die kalmükische Literatur (Jülg), Bibliothek und Naturwissenschaften (Baer), Folklore und Motivforschung (Köhler), Kulturgeschichte (Hehn), Sprachverwandtschaft sowie die „Zigeunersprache“ (Pott), Indologie und Mythologie (Kuhn), die Ofen’sche Sprache (Diefenbach), Namenforschung (Förstemann) und Bibliothekswesen (Dziatzko). Die Briefe sind reich kommentiert und durch ein Namenregister erschlossen. Die Einleitung bildet ein neues Schriftenverzeichnis, da im Laufe der Werkausgabe eine völlige Revision einer früher veröffentlichten Publikationsübersicht erforderlich wurde. Mit Porträts und Register. The noted linguist Anton Schiefner (1817–1879), a native of Reval (nowadays Tallinn), occupies a special position in the history of scholarship on account of his versatility, his rich knowledge, his many publications and his extensive network. By training a classical philologist and a lawyer, he subsequently became an Indologist and Finno-Ugrian expert while as a Petersburg academician he was responsible for Tibetology, and was additionally commissioned to translate and edit the works of late, prematurely deceased Finnish explorer and ethnographer Castrén as well as Baron von Uslar’s research on the Caucasian languages. Schiefner’s letters offer a vivid picture of the progress of linguistics and humaniora for a span of almost 30 years. Projects, new publications, young scholars, study trips, also personal information and news on the situation in the Baltic provinces and St. Petersburg are the main topics. Individual focuses of the present volume are connected with the special interests of the addressees – as Calmuck literature (Jülg), library matters and (natural) science (Baer), folklore and motif research (Köhler), cultural history (Hehn), the relationship of languages and also the gipsy language (Pott), Indology and mythology (Kuhn), the “Ofenic” language [argot of peddlars] (Diefenbach), onomastics (Förstemann) and library administration (Dziatzko). The letters are extensively annotated and made accessible by an index of names. A completely revised list of Schiefner’s publications forms the introduction as the editorial work yielded much new material and allowed correction of previous data. With portraits and index. The noted linguist Anton Schiefner (1817–1879), a native of Reval (nowadays Tallinn), occupies a special position in the history of scholarship on account of his versatility, his rich knowledge, his many publications and his extensive network. By training a classical philologist and a lawyer, he subsequently became an Indologist and Finno-Ugrian expert while as a Petersburg academician he was responsible for Tibetology, and was additionally commissioned to translate and edit the works of late, prematurely deceased Finnish explorer and ethnographer Castrén as well as Baron von Uslar’s research on the Caucasian languages. Schiefner’s letters offer a vivid picture of the progress of linguistics and humaniora for a span of almost 30 years. Projects, new publications, young scholars, study trips, also personal information and news on the situation in the Baltic provinces and St. Petersburg are the main topics. Individual focuses of the present volume are connected with the special interests of the addressees – as Calmuck literature (Jülg), library matters and (natural) science (Baer), folklore and motif research (Köhler), cultural history (Hehn), the relationship of languages and also the gipsy language (Pott), Indology and mythology (Kuhn), the “Ofenic” language [argot of peddlars] (Diefenbach), onomastics (Förstemann) and library administration (Dziatzko). The letters are extensively annotated and made accessible by an index of names. A completely revised list of Schiefner’s publications forms the introduction as the editorial work yielded much new material and allowed correction of previous data. With portraits and index.