Plagiarists, enthusiasts and periodical geography: A.F. Büsching and the making of geographical print culture in the German Enlightenment, c.1750–1800

Abstract

Plagiarists, enthusiasts and periodical geography: A.F. B€ usching and the making of geographical print culture in the German Enlightenment, c.1750-1800 Dean W BondThis article contributes to recent scholarship on the geography and history of the book by arguing for greater attention to 'periodical geography', which refers to the geographical knowledge contained in periodicals, and the geographies that shaped the ways periodicals were produced, circulated and read. To illustrate the potential for such work, the article discusses geographical periodicals in the context of the German Aufkl€ arung (Enlightenment). It focuses in particular on the W€ ochentliche Nachrichten von neuen Landcharten und geographischen, statistischen und historischen B€ uchern und Schriften (Berlin 1773-87), edited by the prominent geographer Anton Friedrich B€ usching. The story of B€ usching's periodical merits attention because it throws valuable light on the practical making of geography's print culture and moral economy of knowledge in the Enlightenment. B€ usching's story reveals that there were competing geographies of trust, authority and credibility at work within Enlightenment geography. It reveals that B€ usching's periodical played a central role in reshaping geography's moral and epistemological order in the later 18th century. In recounting this story, my broader agenda is to argue that the very periodicity and materiality of periodicals transformed the character of geographical print culture in the later 18th century.

History and philosophy of geography II

“…Geography's heterogeneity (and its vitality) is reflected in the literature on its history; work that, in the last year, has ranged from cultures of geographical periodical publishing in Enlightenment-era Germany (Bond, 2017) to provincial geographical societies in 20thcentury Britain (Butlin, 2017), from the role of Jedidiah Morse in the development of geography in the early American republic (Rohli and Johnson, 2016) to the later clash of disciplinary visions revealed in correspondence between William Bunge and Richard Hartshorne (Barnes, 2016b), from the history of the discipline in interwar Yugoslavia (Duančić, 2016) to the institutionalization of geography in South African universities (Barnard, 2016;Visser et al, 2016). So, too, does this literature reflect geography's status as an international discipline within which theoretical concepts circulate and are subject to specific, local appropriations: Zhihong Chen (2016) and José Borzacchiello da Silva (2016) have, for instance, shown how the work of Paul Vidal de La Blache travelled to, and shaped the emergence of modern disciplinary geography in, China and Brazil (see also Clout, 2016;Jöns et al, 2017).…”

Making Mount Kilimanjaro German: Nation building and heroic masculinity in the colonial geographies of Hans Meyer

“…The paper draws on the rich literature on Geography, colonialism and exploration in late 19th‐century Africa (Driver, , ), on the production of the trustworthy (geographical) self (Bond, ; Heffernan, ; Jöns, ; Shapin, ; Withers, ) and especially on the production of white masculinity within this context (Myers, ; Reidy, ; Rose, ; Sundberg, ; Terrall, ). Further, it seeks to complement research interested in the material production and communication of geographical knowledge from a science studies perspective, which encompasses exploration of the role of instruments and technologies of recording (Ryan, ; Withers, ) and the transfer of knowledge from the field to printed text (Keighren et al., ), talks, and “geography's venues,” such as museums and geographical societies (Agnew & Livingstone, ; Barnett, ; Finnegan, ; Koivunen, ; MacDonald & Withers, ; Naylor, ; Ryan, ).…”

Geographical print culture in the German-speaking territories, c.1690—c.1815

“…12 Büsching brought his concerns over accuracy and distrust over troublesome sources to his 'learned newspaper', the Wöchentliche Nachrichten, which was published weekly, in Berlin, between 1773 and 1787. 13 Büsching was not alone in producing a geographical periodical. What is noteworthy, argues Bond, is that geography journals of this sort were 'a uniquely German product', with periodical-form geographical material in Britain and in France appearing in the proceedings and transactions of learned societies, not as a distinct genre in the public sphere: there was, then, 'a distinct geography of periodical geography in the Enlightenment world'.…”

“…For Büsching, 'the need for a source critical approach in geography was inextricably linked to matters of morality'. 11 Büsching also produced a German language periodical. This hitherto little examined 'periodical geography' was a key feature of what Bond calls Aufklärungsgeographie (Enlightenment geography).…”

“…What is noteworthy, argues Bond, is that geography journals of this sort were 'a uniquely German product', with periodical-form geographical material in Britain and in France appearing in the proceedings and transactions of learned societies, not as a distinct genre in the public sphere: there was, then, 'a distinct geography of periodical geography in the Enlightenment world'. 14 This paper draws upon the literature cited and Bond's call for greater attention to be paid to periodical geography to examine two related themes of Aufklärungsgeographie: the production of geography books, and the production of geographical periodicals, in the German-speaking territories. Bond focuses on the epistemological concerns evidenced by Büsching and is singular, almost biographical in scope, in attention to Büsching and his works.…”