Enlightenment geography in the study: A.F. Büsching, J.D. Michaelis and the place of geographical knowledge in the Royal Danish Expedition to Arabia, 1761–1767

Abstract

This paper discusses the practical making of geographical knowledge 'at home' in the context of two interwoven Enlightenment endeavours, namely the fifth part of Anton Friedrich Büsching's Neue Erdbeschreibung concerning the geography of Asia (Hamburg, 1768) and the Royal Danish Expedition to Arabia (1761–1767) organized by Johann David Michaelis. It illustrates how Büsching and Michaelis sought to integrate knowledge of the study and the field in ways that allowed them to produce more accurate knowledge of Asia's historical and contemporary geography, and to legitimate the credibility and necessity – rather than the superiority – of textual critique in the study. In so doing, it criticises recent work that has stressed the epistemological divide between the study and the field in the Danish expedition and in Enlightenment science more broadly. The paper argues that understanding the relations between the historical constitution of the study, the production of geographical knowledge through correspondence, and the critical evaluation of knowledge from the field is crucial for understanding the making of Enlightenment geography.