emulous

Cultivator of the gardens of the mind, himself the very bud and bloom of humanistic learning, he follows Socrates in having taken as his modus operandi the emulous pursuit of all that is most excellent.

From Time Magazine Archive

Writing to please the mistress of his heart, and emulous of epic fame, Boccaccio rejected the usual apostrophes and envoys of the Cantori da Banca, and constructed a poem divided into books.

From Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature Part 1 (of 2) by John Addington Symonds

Motto, "The emulous desire of increase employeth you until ye visit the graves."

From The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I. Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Anonymous

English philosophy was too bashful, and should be more emulous in this field of competition.

From Benjamin Franklin; Self-Revealed, Volume II (of 2) A Biographical and Critical Study Based Mainly on his own Writings by Wiliam Cabell Bruce

In that keen sport along the plain, of heaven; 1837. ... in emulous company Sparkling, and hurrying through the clear blue heaven; 1838 and C. Hurrying and sparkling through the clear blue Heaven.

From The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume IV (of 8) by William Wordsworth