Felicity Jensz & Christina Petterson 
Legacies of David Cranz’s ‘Historie von Grönland’ (1765) [PDF ebook] 

This book brings together interdisciplinary scholars from history, theology, folklore, ethnology and meteorology to examine how David Cranz’s
Historie von Grönland (1765) resonated in various disciplines, periods and countries. Collectively the contributors demonstrate the reach of the book beyond its initial purpose as a record of missionary work, and into secular and political fields beyond Greenland and Germany. The chapters also reveal how the book contributed to broader discussions and conceptualizations of Greenland as part of the Atlantic world. The interdisciplinary scope of the volume allows for a layered reading of Cranz’s book that demonstrates how different meanings could be drawn from the book in different contexts and how the book resonated throughout time and space. It also makes the broader argument that the construction of the Artic in the eighteenth century broadened our understanding of the Atlantic.

Tabella dei contenuti

1. Introduction: More than the sum of its parts: David Cranz’s Historie von Grönland- Felicity Jensz and Christina Petterson.- Part I: Religious context and reception.- 2. Moravians in Greenland: Barren Shores and Fruitful Missions- Christina Petterson.- 3. David Cranz’ History of Greenland and Physico-Theology- Kathrine Kjærgaard.- Part II: English-language Reception and Print Culture.- 4. “a collection of absurdities”: Reception of two English versions of Cranz’s book in Britain, 1767 & 1820- Felicity Jensz.- 5. Unbecoming Heretics: Knowledge, Missionary Stories, and the Legacy of David Cranz in North America- Jared Burkholder.- Part III: Scientific Importance and Influence.- 6. Circulation of Arctic Knowledge among German Protestants in the 18th century – The example of David Cranz´s Historie von Grönland- Joanna Kodzik.- 7. Early Meteorological Observations in Greenland: The Contributions of David Cranz, Christian Gottlieb Kratzenstein and Christopher Brasen- Gaston Demarée and Astrid Elisabeth Ogilvie.- 8. Greenland in Hungary:  Inuit Culture and the Emergence of the Science of Anthropology in Late Eighteenth – Early Nineteenth Century Hungary- Ildikó Sz Kristof.- 9. The Soul of the Arctic. David Cranz’s account of the religion or superstitions of the Greenlanders and its impact on 19th Century descriptions of religion in Greenland- Åmund Norum Resløkken.- Part IV: Cranz and the Medium of Missions.- 10. The “United Brethren” and Johann Gerhard König—Cranz’s Historie von Grönland as an avenue to the natural history of India- Thomas Ruhland.- 11. Cranz’s Greenland as a Steeping Stone to Labrador: Tracing the Profile of the Inuit- Thea Olsthoorn.- Part V: The Post-colonial Cranz.- 12. Cranz Revisited: Greenland in Greenland- Claire Mc Liskey.- 13. Appendix: David Cranz’s Lebenslauf- Paul Peucker

Circa l’autore

Felicity Jensz is a Researcher in the Cluster of Excellence (2060) ‘Religion and Politics’ at the University of Münster, Germany.




Christina Petterson is a Researcher at the School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University.