Letters, 1858, to the Secretary of King’s College London from Gottlieb Leitner (file)

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Title:: Letters, 1858, to the Secretary of King’s College London from Gottlieb Leitner

Collection:: Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, Victorian Orientalist

Archive reference:: KA/IC/L/35

Catalogue record URL (AtoM):: https://archives.kingscollections.org/index.php/ka-ic-l-35

Level of description:: Item

Date of material:: 1858 Sep 1 - 1858 Dec 4

Creator:: King's College London; Secretary

Source collection title:: KA/IC - SECRETARY'S OFFICE: King's College London in-letters

Extent:: 3 sheets

Description (scope):: Manuscript letters to the Secretary of King’s College London from Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner (1840-1899) proposing the College form a Chair of Turkish Language due to the rising importance of the Middle East, (appointed the first Professor of Arabic Language and Literature in 1861).

Copyright:: Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied from open material for research purposes only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archives.; King's College London Archives

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Title:: Letter from from Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner to the Secretary of King’s College London

Archive reference:: KA/IC/L/35

Catalogue record URL (AtoM):: https://archives.kingscollections.org/index.php/ka-ic-l-35

Date of material:: 1858 October 14

Full text

are doing their best in Authorship, will in the course of time undoubtedly arrest the attention of the literary man and particularly of the oriental or arabic [sic] scholar. Without venturing to express an opinion, I beg to ask, whether a person going in an official or diplomatic capacity to Turkey, the nucleus of so many questions yet to be solved, ought not to possess a knowledge of Turkish? Instead of this, they are lead to confide fully in native Interpreters, who as they know the languages, must be trusted with many secrets. Could not cases occur, where the placing of such superiority in Natives would be anything but prudent? This can be avoided by diplomatic persons studying Turkish previous to their leaving England. They would then be in a more direct connection with the Turkish Authorities, would judge by themselves & not be obliged to confide in Interpreters unless they were sure that their trust was worthily placed. The attention of Government ought to be called to this point. The projected Railways throughout Turkey & Asia Minor will closely connect Europe with Asia. Turkey will no more be distant country. A fortnight will allow a tourist to see many parts of it. The many opportunities that are afforded for mercantile enterprises & speculations in that country, do they not show how useful a knowledge of Turkish is to the Merchant and the Tourist? Turkey is moreover an interesting & extensive field for missionary efforts. The young Christian man, desirous of devoting his life to the preaching of the truth, can have no wider or nobler sphere for his talents & energy than in those vast regions where the pure sound of the Gospel has been so seldom heard, where the few remains of ancient Christianity are so much interwoven with idolatrous practices. Though efforts have already been made, still there remains a great deal to be done. Missionaries have unto now but slowly gone forward, owing to their ignorance of the language of the country, & the necessity to give away much of their time to linguistic pursuits. But the young man, who has studied Turkish in England, can at once proceed to his work. Finally, I beg to be allowed to state the reasons why I do not feel myself unable to undertake the task of teaching Turkish in King's College. I have been a resident in Turkey for 8–9 years & have always lived amongst Turks. Owing to my friendly footing with a member of the Mahometan Clergy, I was allowed to frequent a Turkish College, which are exclusively reserved for Mussulmans. In the same time, I took private lessons from literary men (Turks) known

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