The Scottish enlightenment abroad : : the Russells of Braidshaw in Aleppo and on the coast of Coromandel / / by Janet Starkey.

• Author: Starkey, Janet, 1948-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2018.
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (483 pages)

In The Scottish Enlightenment Abroad , Janet Starkey examines the lives and works of Scots working in the mid eighteenth century with the Levant Company in Aleppo, then within the Ottoman Empire; and those working with the East India Company in India, especially in the fields of natural history, medicine, ethnography and the collection of Arabic and Persian manuscripts. The focus is on brothers from Edinburgh: Alexander Russell MD FRS, Patrick Russell MD FRS, Claud Russell and William Russell FRS. By examining a wide range of modern interpretations, Starkey argues that the Scottish Enlightenment was not just a philosophical discourse but a multi-faceted cultural revolution that owed its vibrancy to ties of kinship, and to strong commercial and intellectual links with Europe and further abroad.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- “The Prospect of Aleppo” from Henry Maundrell, A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem (Oxford: printed at the Theater, c.1703). Signed “MB”, probably by M. Burghers (artist and engraver) -- Copyright page -- -- Acknowledgements -- List of Figures and Tables -- Prelude -- Living the Scottish Enlightenment -- From Edinburgh to Aleppo -- With the Levant Company in Aleppo -- After Aleppo -- The “Literary-Artistic”: Setting the Scene -- Introducing Aleppo1 and Aleppo2 -- The Natural History of Religions, Politics and the Everyday -- Exploring the Cosmopolitan Everyday -- On Sophistication and Pleasure -- Scientific Enlightenment and “New Medicine” -- Medical Practice in Ottoman Aleppo -- Pathology and Epidemics -- Scientific Enlightenment, Natural History and Improvements -- Flora and Fauna of Aleppo -- Gardens and the Trope of Romanticism -- Natural History in India -- Curiosity, Wonder and Enlightenment -- Collecting: Identification and Authentication -- Epilogue.