The Publication and Reception of David Cranz’s 1767 History of Greenland

Between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, religious books proportionally lost popularity while travel books became more popular. This paper examines a hybrid of these two genres, Protestant missionary monographs, through a detailed analysis of David Cranz’s 1767 History of Greenland, including the rationale behind publishing the book; its translation from German into English; how it was used as a political tool to influence British foreign policy; and how the book was received by British literary critics and scientists. This analysis demonstrates how authorial intentions that the religious and secular components of Protestant Missionary literature be considered as parts of a whole produced confusion and tension in the secular reception of such books.