Edward Robinson papers, 1826 -- 1838

Edward Robinson was born in Southington, Connecticut on April 10, 1794, a town where his father preached as a Congregational minister for 40 years. Robinson was educated at Hamilton College between 1816 and 1818 where he studied law and worked as a tutor in mathematics and Greek. He pursued his religious education at Andover Theological Seminary between 1822 and 1825 and was ordained with the Third Presbytery of New York on November 15, 1841. Robinson taught briefly as a Hebrew instructor at Andover from 1823-26 before pursuing further ancient language studies at the Universities of Berlin and Halle between 1826 and 1830. Upon his return to the States, he was Professor of Greek and Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of the City of New York (1832-1833) before moving to Union Theological Seminary, where he taught in the department of Sacred Literature from 1837-1863. Aside from teaching, Robinson was a career translator, beginning translations of religious and classical texts as early as 1821, and publishing a number of them, including a translation of Friedrich Gesenius' Hebrew Lexicon, a Greek New Testament, and edited a Greek translation of The Iliad. Robinson would remain at Union in several capacities over the years, including as librarian from 1841 to 1850. Robinson's career was significantly marked by his international travels, in Europe during his studies and later conducting extensive research trips to describe landscapes and identified religious sites in the Holy Land and surrounding regions between 1837-1838 accompanied by Reverend Eli Smith, and again from 1851-1852. During these travels, Robinson fastidiously documented his experience of the topographic, sociocultural, linguistic and intellectual elements that distinguished the Middle East at that time. Robinson's extensive fieldwork in the then-Ottoman ruled Palestinian region has earned him the title "father of Biblical geography" in some circles. While the original manuscript of "Biblical Researches" is present in this collection, subsequent editions and copies are in existence, distributed by Boston-based publisher Crocker and Brewster. Robinson's knowledge of several languages and complementary interests in the religious and cultural landscape of Palestine are well-documented through "Biblical Researches", as well as supplementary notebooks and journals Robinson kept throughout his travels, and religious works written by others but that Robinson translated or otherwise engaged with in his scholarship. Edward Robinson eventually also received a Doctorate of Divinity from Dartmouth College, and would be involved with Union Theological Seminary until his death in New York City on January 27, 1863.