The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
Today's date is: 5/12/2025
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The Falashas: The Forgotten Jews of Ethiopia, by David Kessler
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| Bruce's labours in the cause of discovery, and to accept those drawings of Baalbec, Palmyra and the African cities, which the traveller had promised to make for his collection. (1)The excitement which had been generated by his first appearance in London's intellectual society was, however, short-lived. Personal animosities created by Bruce's somewhat arrogant manner combined with sheer incredulity at some of his stories caused widespread hostility and derision. Some doubted whether he had even been to Abyssinia, others compared him with Baron Munchausen, the alleged German author of tall stories, while his drawing of a harp copied exactly from an ancient Egyptian tomb seemed so improbable that it earned him the nickname of the The ban liar. (2) He met Samuel Johnson in 1775 at the home of his cousin William Gerard ('Single Speech') Hamilton but he did not impress either Johnson or his biographer Boswell and the former joined the ranks of the sceptics. Edward Gibbon, the historian, was also a friend of Hamilton's but while it is unlikely that he ever met Bruce it is reasonable to suppose that he would have heard about him from Hamilton, who may have helped to colour his view of Ethiopian history. Dispirited and angry, Bruce left London for his native Scotland, where he settled down to a domestic life and the supervision ofhis much-neglected ancestral estate. It was not until eleven years after his return to Britain, and following the death of his second wife, that he began to work seriously on the material which he had brought back from Ethiopia. Five years later, in 1790, the account of his travels was published in London in five massive volumes. Lord Sheffield drew Gibbon's attention to the publication in a letter which displayed more than a superficial interest: Everybody is looking into Bruce's Travels. Part takes the attention but they are abominably abused. Banks(3) objects to the Botany, Reynell to the Geography, Cambridge to the History, the Greeks to the Greek, etc., etc., yet the work is to be found on every table. Bruce printed the work, and sold 2,000 copies to Robertson for £6,000. He sells to the booksellers at 4 guineas, and they to their customers at 5 guineas.(4) On the whole the book was given a good reception, was translated (1) ibid., p. 115. |
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