Journals of the Rev. Messrs Isenberg and Krapf, Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society: Detailing their Proceedings in the Kingdom of Shoa, and Journeys in Other Parts of Abyssinia, in the Years 1839, 1840, 1841, and 1842

In 1829 the Church Missionary Society began operations in the African kingdom of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The Anglican clergyman Charles Isenberg (1806-64) joined the mission there in 1835, followed by Johann Ludwig Krapf (1810-81) in 1837. Soon afterwards, opposition to the Society’s presence in Abyssinia caused them to leave. However, they were determined to establish a base in the central Ethiopian kingdom of Shoa (Shewa), and did so in 1839, entering from the Yemeni port of Mocha. Isenberg stayed in the capital, Ankobar, from 7 June until 6 November 1839, while Krapf remained until 1842 and travelled to other, lesser-known parts of the country. This work, published in 1843, is an account of their period of missionary activity, told through their journals. It begins with a geographical account of the region by the leading specialist of the time, James MacQueen (1778-1870), widely considered one of his most important works.