Leipzig, 3rd September, 1877. . 4pp. manuscript letter in German dated Leipzig 3rd September 1877.
This letter, written by Karl Baedeker, gives an interesting insight into the workings of the Baedeker company and the detailed attention they devoted to their guide-books. Written two years after the publication of the first (German) edition of Palestine & Syria, and in the same year as the publication of the guidebook to Egypt, the letter shows the attention to detail Baedeker put into each work. Greece, the last part of his Oriental enterprise, appeared in 1883 six years later.
[English Translation]. 'Leipzig, September 3, 1882 / Dear Mr. Tuckett: / This morning I received your valuable communication for 'Greece'. I am thanking you for this in the most heartfelt manner, as well as for the proposed additional help in the new project. I give you the assurance that I will take the same care of it as I did with the two volumes Palestine & Syria and Lower Egypt, so that all the support I get in that matter will result in my thanks and goodwill. / From the two mentioned volumes you will have realised how much I am aiming at giving this Oriental enterprise a solid and scientific foundation for which I want to raise interest among eminent specialists, in order to gather the best possible material. Besides that, two of my colleagues and me, naturally each on his own, will travel in that country in order to be able to give in the book, if possible, firsthand information about each place gathered on location. When the manuscript has thus been finished I will have it typeset and send proofs to all the gentlemen who helped, asking them to revise the text again and meticulously. Please excuse me for having informed you about the production of these volumes in such detail. I felt the need to give - specially to you - a rough idea about that. / I don't know yet whether I will come to Euboea myself; nevertheless, with your permission and referring to you I will try to get interest in the handbook as well from your friend Capt. Mansell in Chalkis. / [in English:] Ever yours sincerely / Karl Baedeker. / Today at lunchtime I received a letter from Sparta written by a colleague who has been travelling since last autumn; I will have a passage from it copied. The accident, survived just by chance, is not without interest."
