Description

Edward Robinson (1794-1863), an American scholar of Greek and Hebrew philology, is considered a founding figure in the field of biblical geography and archaeology. In 1838 he explored Palestine with Eli Smith (1801-57), a Yale graduate and Protestant missionary, and co-author of Missionary Researches in Armenia (also reissued in this series). Smith had settled in Beirut, was proficient in Arabic, and reputedly brought the first printing press with Arabic type to Syria. The authors succeeded in identifying many biblical locations, and the original edition of their book, structured as a travel journal, was published in 1841. It was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society the following year. Robinson and Smith returned to Palestine in 1852 and published an enlarged edition in 1856. This reissue is of the 1867 third edition, which was slightly abridged but contained new maps and plans.