The Republic of Letters was a name given to scholars in correspondence with each other, exchanging information about learning, that began with Renaissance humanists and died out after the French Revolution, when the term republic left a bloody taste in the mouths of the elite. Here scholars of the various humanities document some of the links between the visible area of the Levant and the invisible Republic of Letters in Europe. Some of those links involve Europeans writing to each other about the Levant or themes connected to it while others are writings from the Levant itself or are establishing relations with residents or travelers there who could help in collecting manuscripts, artefacts, and antiquities. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)