This book is a result of the German–Israeli research project ‘Robinson, van de Velde, and German Holy Land Cartography in the Mid-Nineteenth Century’, funded by the German–Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) and realised at Tel-Hai College (Upper Galilee, Israel) and the Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography (Leipzig, Germany). The Principal Investigators (PI) of the project, Haim Goren (Tel-Hai College) and Bruno Schelhaas (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography), together with research assistant Jutta Faehndrich (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography), are the authors of this volume. Petra Weigel (Gotha Research Library) is responsible for the selection of most of the images (maps and archival documents of the Perthes Collection). The book is divided into three main chapters, presenting three case studies of our topic: the reconstruction of the history of German Palestine cartography in its decisive period between 1830 and 1875.
Both institutions at Tel-Hai and Leipzig supported the project generously. The Tel-Hai MIGAL Research Fund, together with the college management led by former President Yona Chen, enabled Haim Goren to make a number of visits to Germany, which were of crucial importance for the project. It also hosted a workshop, visited by everybody connected with it. The Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, especially the working group on History of Geography as well as the Central Geographical Library and the administration supported the project from the very beginning in all organisational and scientific issues with personal engagement and expertise. Finally, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation in 2012 approved an additional four months Herzog-Ernst-Scholarship to Jutta Faehndrich for realising intensive archival work at Gotha Research Library.
During the more than four years spent on the project (2011–15), the research team benefited from a great number of colleagues and friends in Israel, Germany and elsewhere. We are very thankful to all of them. Firstly, we have to thank our student assistants Sophie Perthus and Teresa Kilian, who contributed basic work packages, in particular with very detailed source collection, map analysis, deciphering and transcribing of handwritten documents. The Cooperating Investigators Heinz Peter Brogiato and Ute Wardenga (Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography) and Rehav (Buni) Rubin (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) joined the project from the very beginning and promoted it with their expertise and long-standing experience in international research at all times.
In Israel, we found essential support from several experts. In the first place we have to thank research assistant Moshe Maggid (Jerusalem) and student assistant Ana-El Badach (Jerusalem). Shalom Tarmachi (Tel-Hai College, Map Collection), Senior Cartographer Tamar Soffer (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and Ayelet Rubin (Eran Laor Collection, The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem) opened their collections for us and gave precious assistance, too.
We managed to find and analyse a unique pool of published and especially archival sources in primarily German, Israeli, British and US collections. The findings exceeded all our expectations. Accordingly, the cooperation with the collections was the basis for the success of our project. The Perthes Collection at Gotha Research Library has been our most important partner for many years. The realisation of our project was only possible with the help of the unique and rich documents of the collection. Petra Weigel, head of the Perthes Collection, was an active member of the project team from the beginning. She supported our research, participated in our workshops and conferences and she was active in writing papers on the subject. Her dedication and expertise greatly advanced our project. She and the collection’s archivist Sven Ballenthin supported our research, answered any kind of requests and opened the collections generously and with patience. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to both, to the whole staff of Gotha Research Library and especially to its director Kathrin Paasch.
The second collection in Germany with highly important sources for our subject is the Berlin State Library. We are especially grateful to Wolfgang Crom and Markus Heinz (Map Department) and to Jutta Weber (Manuscript Department).
Likewise, we have to thank friends and colleagues in the USA, in particular Christian Goodwillie, director and curator of Special Collections and Archives at Hamilton College Library (Clinton, NY) and his team, Jay G. and Hermine Williams, who managed the Edward Robinson Papers for many years, and the staff of Houghton Library, Harvard University (Cambridge, MA).
We are also grateful to Jakob Eisler (Landeskirchliches Archiv Stuttgart), Bruno Tauché (University Halle-Wittenberg), Christopher Fleet and Karla Baker (National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh) and to many, many friends for supporting us so warmly. Finally, we want to thank I.B.Tauris Publishers and in particular Senior Editor David Stonestreet and his team, and copy-editor Christopher Shaw, for realising this book.
Haim Goren, Jutta Faehndrich and Bruno Schelhaas