 Guided by his anthropological interests, however, Humboldt became involved in the problem of what constituted national character and how precisely one could within the context of modern Europe determine its essential features. Thus in 1797 he composed an extensive study in a genre of what we might call today “cultural and historical criticism” entitled: Das achtzehnte Jahrhundert (The Eighteenth Century, GS Vol 2: 1–112). He would soon have the opportunity to gather his own observations on those issues, when in the fall of 1797 he and his family moved to Paris where they would remain until the summer of 1801. This extended sojourn was interrupted by two extended journeys to Spain, from November 1799 to April 1800 and again in the spring and summer of 1801, the purpose of the latter being a visit to the Basque country in order to study the Basque language and culture.