Critic, poet and essayist Friedrich von Schlegel (1772-1829) was a leading figure of German Romanticism. Believed to be autobiographical, his unfinished novel Lucinde caused a scandal in 1799 because of its portrayal of a sexual liaison. After exploring the development of philosophy, Schlegel increasingly turned his attention to the study of Sanskrit and Hindu religious writings. This work on the connections between Sanskrit and Indo-European languages,...