Martin Schreiner between Islamic Studies and Wissenschaft des Judentums: A Study of His Life and Work

On 30 August 1906 Martin Schreiner, who had been diagnosed with mental illness in May 1902 at the age of 39, wrote from the Sanatorium Berolinum in Berlin-Lankwitz to the librarian of the Lehranstalt für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin asking to send him some books, in the hope of being released soon. This letter and some short letters dating from 1920 and 1922 constitute Schreiner's last written testimonies. His mental illness painfully and suddenly ended the short but productive career of a versatile scholar who was one of the most important exponents of the Wissenschaft des Judentums and who simultaneously engaged in the study of Islam. The book reconstructs Schreiner’s scholarly biography from his student days in Budapest to his active period in Berlin, December 1893 to May 1902, where the manuscript holdings of the Royal Library opened up entirely new perspectives for him. It focuses on his pioneering scholarship particularly in the field of Islamic intellectual history, where his main contributions dealt with the Muʿtazila, Ibn Taymiyya and his circle, the mystical tradition of Ibn ʿArabī, and interreligious polemics. Besides a list of the manuscripts consulted by Schreiner, a catalogue of his personal library, and other materials that shed light on his life and work, this book includes a selection of Schreiner's unpublished writings.