Un historiador del ocaso: Los derroteros intelectuales del primer Huizinga (1897-1919)

far from the appeased and splendid picture of his classic work, the autumn of the middle ages, the early intellectual routes of the dutch historian johan huizinga [1872-1945] are loaded with strong epistemological conflicts surrounding the history and literature that still remain in the shade. this first period represents a key to understanding not only the origins of that great work, but also the nature of a series of investigations that make of huizinga one of the leading representatives of the "cultural history" as it was understood during the first half of the twentieth century. we have recuperated for the first time in spanish some of these works and a part of his correspondence with other major historians of the period as henri pirenne ou lucien febvre. issues such as the oriental literature, german philology, philosophical and aesthetic problems of historical knowledge, the site of a dutch historiography still in slow development, or anti-scientism, are variables in a period of intense research and intellectual debate where huizinga's participation has been key.