Arabia Felix: The Danish Expedition of 1761-1767
by Thorkild Hansen
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"A riveting account of a landmark expedition that left only one survivor, now back in print for the first time in decades. Arabia Felix is the spellbinding true story of a scientific expedition gone disastrously astray. On a winter morning in 1761 six men leave Copenhagen by sea--a botanist, a philologist, an astronomer, a doctor, an artist, and their manservant--an ill-assorted band of men who dislike and distrust one another from the start. These are the members of the first Danish show more expedition to Arabia Felix, as Yemen was then known, the first organized foray into a corner of the world unknown to Europeans, an enterprise that had the support of the Danish Crown and was keenly followed throughout Europe. The expedition made its way to Turkey and Egypt, by which time its members were already actively seeking to undercut and even kill one another, before disappearing into the harsh desert that was their destination. Nearly seven years later a single survivor returned to Denmark to find himself a forgotten man and all the specimens that had been sent back ruined by neglect. Based on diaries, notebooks, and sketches that lay unread in Danish archives until the twentieth century, Arabia Felix is both a comedy of intellectual rivalry and very bad manners and an utterly absorbing tale of high adventure. Arabia Felix includes 33 line drawings and maps"-- show lessTags
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“This circle, which formed the basis for almost all Niebuhr’s measurements, also enclosed all the basic concepts of his universe: light and matter, the stars and the earth, his firm belief in reality. It is called ‘the circle of vision,’ and further than that he had no wish to see. When he had overstepped it, things had gone badly for him; but within its confines the dome of heaven lay about him as though he stood enclosed in a drop of eternity. This circle was like a magic ring drawn round him for his protection. Within it he was invulnerable and in his native land. It encircled him when he tended the cows in the fields near Altenbruch. In the desert he found it again, every bit as large and clear. In his old age it lay about show more him once more. And when at last he lay lame and blind in his bed, it was not so dark that he could no longer see the stars rise one by one above the same great circle. In this land Carsten Niebuhr took his departure. Perhaps here at last was Arabia Felix.”
The best of Thor Heyerdahl’s work is imbued with optimism and ends the high adventure with triumphant results—all without sacrificing the empirical research needed to lend such great work gravitas. Thorkild Hansen’s 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘍𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘹 has barely any of this optimism, but it is just as methodical in its recreation of a doomed expedition, pulling together diaries and letters and drawings into a compelling story that had been largely forgotten until its publication in 1962. The bold endeavor may have been a failure in its time, and cost the lives of nearly every poor soul in the party, but I found it inspiring nonetheless; especially in its lone survivor’s long trek back to Copenhagen. This is what I read nonfiction for—illumination, history, science, a deeper understanding of the journey that led to what we take for granted today as common knowledge. When those facts and graphs and data are rolled up in a narrative that is impossible to break away from, it’s a reward that I hope in some small way justifies the sacrifices made by tougher men in tougher times who were also just trying to understand the world around them. This would make a great movie. It would be depressing as shit. And, yet, maybe fire another group of adventurers to make their own danger-fraught journey into discovery and dare to record what mysteries those open eyes happened upon in the desert—whether on this planet or another. show less
The best of Thor Heyerdahl’s work is imbued with optimism and ends the high adventure with triumphant results—all without sacrificing the empirical research needed to lend such great work gravitas. Thorkild Hansen’s 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘍𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘹 has barely any of this optimism, but it is just as methodical in its recreation of a doomed expedition, pulling together diaries and letters and drawings into a compelling story that had been largely forgotten until its publication in 1962. The bold endeavor may have been a failure in its time, and cost the lives of nearly every poor soul in the party, but I found it inspiring nonetheless; especially in its lone survivor’s long trek back to Copenhagen. This is what I read nonfiction for—illumination, history, science, a deeper understanding of the journey that led to what we take for granted today as common knowledge. When those facts and graphs and data are rolled up in a narrative that is impossible to break away from, it’s a reward that I hope in some small way justifies the sacrifices made by tougher men in tougher times who were also just trying to understand the world around them. This would make a great movie. It would be depressing as shit. And, yet, maybe fire another group of adventurers to make their own danger-fraught journey into discovery and dare to record what mysteries those open eyes happened upon in the desert—whether on this planet or another. show less
Non male.
Molto ben scritto, con una prosa che mantiene sempre il giusto ritmo narrativo alternando momenti più seri a pause più leggere e anche divertenti. Penso che anche la traduzione abbia del merito in ciò, con un lavoro di qualità nel rendere il modo di scrivere molto caratterizzato e particolare dell'autore.
Poi che dire, la vicenda è semplicemente affascinante, oltre ad essere un importantissimo pezzo di storia.
Molto ben scritto, con una prosa che mantiene sempre il giusto ritmo narrativo alternando momenti più seri a pause più leggere e anche divertenti. Penso che anche la traduzione abbia del merito in ciò, con un lavoro di qualità nel rendere il modo di scrivere molto caratterizzato e particolare dell'autore.
Poi che dire, la vicenda è semplicemente affascinante, oltre ad essere un importantissimo pezzo di storia.
Simply excellent. The fascinating story, ably told, of an ill-fated (mostly) Danish expedition to the Arabian Peninsula in the 1760s.
Mr Niebuhr takes a place on my shelf of great adventurers next to Shackleton and Mawson. An amazing bit of history painstakingly pulled from primary sources. A fascinating story and set of real characters. Ah if only the scientific community of Denmark in 1767 had so lovingly reviewed the results of this expedition.
Free 1963, book is 1968
Un'infelice spedizione danese parte nel 1761 alla volta dello Yemen, a scopo scientifico. Affascinati dall'antichissimo nome che doveva alludere ad una dimensione di beatitudine, di felicità gli eruditi illuministi ed il loro servitore davanti ad una terra sconosciuta e ai suoi deserti rimarranno delusi, incapaci di comprenderne la bellezza e il mistero, ottenebrati dall'avidità, dalla gelosia e dalla meschinità. Unico a capire che la felicità alberga nella propria anima è Niebuhr: davanti alle sabbie desertiche dove l'uomo è "nulla" avverte il bisogno di visitare il proprio mondo interiore.
Dec 13, 2010Italian
Dit boek geeft je een idee wat het moet geweest, toen, op expeditie gaan. Wij, die gewoon een vliegtuig instappen en reizen waarheen we maar willen, kunnen ons dit gewoon niet voorstellen.
Sep 5, 2008Dutch
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- Canonical title
- Arabia Felix: The Danish Expedition of 1761-1767
- Original title
- Det lykkelige Arabien. En dansk ekspedition, 1761-1767
- Original publication date
- 1962
- People/Characters
- Carsten Niebuhr
- Important places
- Arabia
- Epigraph
- Between chance and fate speaks the human tongue; and if it is silent, the fingers speak; and if they are crippled, the eyes speak; and if they are blinded, the heart speaks - alone or in a loved one's arms, in ice or in fl... (show all)ames, to the least heart-beat...
Thorkild Bjornvig - Dedication
- Denne bog er til Birte Marie og Vera
- First words
- On a calm winter morning, on 4th January, 1761, a company of five men, clad for a journey, were rowed out from the Tollbooth into the shipping roads off Copenhagen.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Perhaps here at last was Arabia Felix.
- Blurbers
- Lewis-Kraus, Gideon
- Original language
- Danish
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- 80,151
- Reviews
- 10
- Rating
- (4.27)
- Languages
- 11 — Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Norwegian, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 25
- ASINs
- 6
