Bethlehem in Palastina : The 1840s Travelogue of a Visitor to the Holy Land

In 1835, a 27-year-old Swiss doctor, Titus Tobler, travelled to Palestine to undertake medical research. The trip sparked a lifelong fascination with the Holy Land. Tobler spent considerable time in Bethlehem and decided that the city of Christ’ s birth deserved its own detailed publication. First published in German in 1849, this volume delivers a fascinating and meticulous insight into the historic small town in the critical few years before global events changed it forever and opened it up to the world. It details all aspects of the inhabitants’ lives, including access to water, agricultural practices, cooking traditions, dress, hygiene, family dynamics, attitudes towards one another and towards foreigners, economics, professions and, most significantly, the growing trade of making and shipping souvenirs abroad.In spite of the book’ s historic importance and its essential value to Palestine studies, it has remained available in German only, until now. This engaging English translation renews its significance to a new generation of those studying this uniquely famous town and the evolution of European attitudes towards Palestine itself.