Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • 3 - The Humboldt Brothers’ Youth and Bildung in Europe of the Late Eighteenth Century

  • from Part II - The Early Lives of Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt
  • Emanuel J. Drechsel, University of Hawaii, Manoa
  • Book:
    Wilhelm von Humboldt and Early American Linguistics
    Published online:
    11 January 2024
    Print publication:
    01 February 2024, pp 47-64

  • Summary

    Chapter 3 offers a double biography of Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) and Alexander von Humboldt (1767–1859) until the latter’s departure for the Americas, and does so for two reasons: Not only did the two brothers grow up together in an intimate fraternal relationship (with their father lost and their mother estranged), and did so despite differences in personality and interest, but Alexander also became a major resource through his own linguistic-ethnographic observations with Indigenous peoples of the Americas and as a liaison for resources from American contacts on his elder brother’s behalf. In short, Alexander served as the eyes and ears of William, who never crossed the Atlantic. On his return to Europe, Alexander then brought along major linguistic works for Wilhelm’s library. Over the years, the two Humboldts would grow even closer to each other, as evident in their organismic perspectives of language and nature.