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My essay attends to a number of passages in Alexander von Humboldt’s Personal Narrative in which the Prussian explorer expresses anxiety about the apparent dangers posed by the overwhelmingly productive tropical landscapes he observes. In these passages, the excesses of an “exotic nature” threaten European identity and modes of civilization—and they trouble the accuracy of Humboldt’s own observational project. I also explore Humboldt’s related worry that South American vegetable (and visual) overload will exert a destabilizing effect on his aesthetic sensibility, disrupting his ability to represent the “New Continent” accurately in writing. Finally, I sketch the influence of Humboldt’s representations of tropical excess on nineteenth-century British cultural thought and literary practice. Studying the instabilities experienced by Personal Narrative’s expatriates and colonists promises to draw out important tensions latent in Humboldt’s treatment of tropical landscape and to illuminate broader epistemological and aesthetic shifts being worked out during the period.
“Mason without apron”
(2019)
While the lack of religion in Alexander von Humboldt’s work and the criticism he received is well known, his relationship with Freemasonry is relatively unexplored. Humboldt appears on some lists of “illustrious Masons,” and several lodges carry his name, but was he really a member? If so, when and where did he join a lodge? Are there any comments by him about Freemasonry? Who were the renowned Masons he was surrounded by? This paper examines these questions, but more importantly it analyzes what a membership might have meant for Humboldt’s scholarly work. It looks particularly at the unprecedented success he enjoyed in the United States in the early 19th century and the factors behind it. What could he have gained from these connections and how was he viewed by Masonic leaders and lodges in the trans-Atlantic world?
Ever since our first research into Alexander von Humboldt's stay in Spain, the absence of an ensuing relationship between the wise Prussian and the Spanish Crown and Authorities had always surprised us. On starting new research, we found that indeed he sent his first work to Carlos IV from Rome accompanied by a letter of gratitude for the protection he had received during his American trip and submission to the Spanish Crown, which we now present. This first literary fruit of his voyage, which Alexander von Humboldt alluded to in the letter is the first instalment of his work Plantes Équinoxiales, Recueillies au Mexique, dans l’ile de Cuba, dans les provinces de Caracas, de Cumana etc., published in Paris in 1805.
The Humboldt Digital Library
(2005)
Alexander von Humboldt’s maps, graphs and illustrations contain a great deal of detail, but in the available rare editions they are hardly visible to the naked eye. In many editions they have been reduced. In a digital library, they will become accessible in their entirety, and Internet technology will reproduce them in a form that overcomes the limitations of the original printing. The user will be able to enlarge the images and see details that might have been overlooked in the past. The Humboldt’s digital library will adhere to the standards for digital libraries established by the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) and the tools EPRINTS and DSPACE to provide the Web services and determine the most effective way to establish dynamic linking and knowledge based searching of information within the archive.
The Franciscans in Cathay
(2015)
The study analyzes the process that leads to the elaboration of the thesis of a continuity between the Medieval Asia mission and the New World mission. This effort, undertaken by the Catholic historiography of the mission during the XIX century, is the result of the impulse provided by Alexander von Humboldt’s studies about the discovery of America (Examen critique). The data about the geography of Asia collected by the missionaries-travelers working in the territory between Karakorum and Khanbalik during the XIII e XIV century reaches Christopher Colombus with the mediation of Roger Bacon, whom Humboldt himself esteems as a true cultural mediator. The conclusion of the article tries to identify reasons and modalities of the secularization of the missionary concept, i.e. the shift from the ideal of the propagation of the Christian message to a prevailing interest for cartography and topography, transformations arranged by a late medieval historiography that introduces into martyrolagia the loca toponomastica.
The Prussian geologist Leopold von Buch was a lifelong friend of Alexander von Humboldt and had a significant influence on Humboldt’s geological ideas. In a talk, held in Berlin in 1831, which is published here for the first time, von Buch presented the Duria Antiquior of 1830 by the English geologist Henry De La Beche. The Duria Antiquior is widely regarded as the earliest depiction of a scene of prehistoric life from deep time. The print raised new questions about the processes of geohistorical change. The talk reveals that Leopold von Buch was a true scientist of the Romantic Age. His descriptions of geohistorical organismic transformations are taken from pictorial examples of organismic transformation from the classical literature. The talk also illustrates how influential English geologists were for geo-historical reconstructions in Germany.
Plantae des États-Unis
(2018)
A recently discovered manuscript sheds a new light on Alexander von Humboldt’s stay in the USA in 1804. The document contains his notes on conversations with President Thomas Jefferson and botanist G. H. E. Mühlenberg. Humboldt also collected information on useful and medicinal plants, listed North American naturalists and documented consumer prices.
Off-road adventures
(2024)
This article focuses on the visual qualities of Alexander von Humboldt’s statistical tables in his Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain (1808–1811, 2nd ed. 1825–1827) with special attention to how such composites of numbers, alphabetical script, and semiotic elements relate to narrative writing. I argue that Humboldt’s tables/tableaus open up spaces inside his narrative that fragment the reading process, inviting new conversations, connections, and ideas.
Networking knowledge
(2015)
Global citizenship and diversity are well-represented concepts in today’s higher education. Learning outcomes and competencies are designed to sensitize students to the many cultural backgrounds of U.S. learning institutions. Nevertheless, true globality, as represented through diverse discourses and perspectives of the world, still seems neglected in curricula and course assignments. This article explores the possibilities offered through a new shared space in education where different forms of networked knowledge and multifaceted perspectives can build a global platform of exchange in a diverse student population. The universal science concept described by Alexander von Humboldt at the beginning of the 19th Century illuminates this intertwined approach to knowledge of the world, which has the potential to positively impact contemporary curricula and course design. Von Humboldt’s writings emphasize inclusion and interplay among cultures and natural phenomena. By inviting our students to be active representatives of diverse discourses, these interconnecting links will become more transparent. In turn, productive forms of knowing about the world may enrich current learning objectives and thereby reflect a true global citizenship as it evolves in a new shared space of education. Keywords: global citizenship, plurality, diverse discourses, multicultural education.
Since 2011 the Comorian Island of Mayotte has been France’s 101st département, thereby becoming part of the European Union. As a result, France has consolidated and strengthened its strategic position in the Indian Ocean. With the change of political status in 2011, new developments have occurred in Mayotte. It is still unclear whether the expected economic boom, extensive social benefits or injection of EU regional funds can help to alleviate poverty and raise living standards. There is concern, however, that massive immigration to Mayotte from the surrounding territories is diminishing any progress and will continue to do so. Not only France but also the EU will have to adapt to new immigration problems due to this new external border. In this situation one thing is clear: the language contact between French and the local languages, which is the result of political developments, is leading to new dynamics. The diglossic situation east of Africa, between French as the dominant language and local languages like Shimaoré or Shibushi spoken in Mayotte will become more marked in the next few years.