Abyssinia, the Alpine Land under the Tropics and Its Borderlands

Andree, Richard, 1835-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
824K words
Chapters
83

Tags

English Originals Historical GeographyWorld History Human GeographyLandform LandscapeNature ObservationAfrican GeographyTravel GuideDocumentary Narrative19th CenturyExotic CultureFolk CustomsCross-Cultural View

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Abessinien, das Alpenland unter den Tropen und seine Grenzländer by Richard AndreeAuthor: Andree, Richard, 1835-1912,Language: German, Class: DT: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Africa, Release Date: Jan 7, 2010

Editor's review

This book is a geographical and ethnographic account of Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) and its neighboring regions by the German geographer and ethnographer Richard Andree. Originally written in German, it belongs to the public-domain e-book literature on African historical geography. Taking "the alpine land in the tropics" as its entry point, the author introduces the terrain, climate, products, and conditions of neighboring areas, reflecting the perspective of a late 19th- to early 20th-century European scholar on the East African highlands. Its value lies in offering a geographical sample of an era's knowledge, useful to readers studying African regional history, colonial-era knowledge production, and German-language geographical writing. Because of its age, the place names, political boundaries, and some descriptions differ considerably from contemporary reality; readers should treat it as a historical document rather than a current travel guide and read it alongside modern maps and later research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read alongside a modern map of East Africa, noting how the book's place names correspond to today's locations.
  2. Treat it as a historical-geographical document and read it together with studies of colonial-era East Africa.
  3. Begin with the table of contents and the regional divisions, then read the chapters relevant to your own research.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83

FAQ

Can the geographical information in this book still be used directly today? Not directly. The book dates from the late 19th to early 20th century, and place names, borders, and political boundaries have changed greatly since; some descriptions carry the perspective of their time. It is best treated as a historical-geographical document and used alongside modern maps and contemporary research.
Can I read this book without knowing German? The original is in German, so without German reading ability the barrier is high. You may use translation tools or turn to related scholarly works instead; for academic reference, check key passages against the German original to avoid misreading.
Is this book suitable as an introductory text for African studies? Not really. It is closer to a geographical account of a particular era and lacks a modern academic framework and updated data. Beginners should first read general African histories and regional geographies, then use this book as supplementary historical material.

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About the author

Andree, Richard, 1835-1912 Author · German · 1835–1912

Richard Andree (1835–1912) was a German geographer and cartographer, best known as the editor of Andree's World Atlas. The atlas circulated widely from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century and had an impact on popularizing geographical knowledge and advancing map publishing. He paid attention to regional geography and the representation of the natural environment. The library holds his work Abessinien, das Alpenland unter den Tropen und seine Grenzländer, whose title indicates a focus on the geography of a tropical highland region and its neighboring areas, continuing his approach of combining source materials with maps to describe regional features. Public information on the details of his life, such as education, posts, and specific honors, is limited; the present account rests mainly on his cartographic editing and geographical writings.