Observations on the Topography of the Plain of Troy

In this 1814 work, geographer James Rennell compares the topography of the hypothetical site of Troy with ancient accounts.

James Rennell (1742–1830) could be claimed as the father of historical geography. In this 1814 work, he compares the topography of the area where Troy was believed to be located with the accounts of the Homeric texts, and with ancient commentators and geographers, offering an important contribution to the controversy.James Rennell (1742–1830) could be claimed as the father of historical geography. After a long career at sea and in India, during which he had learned surveying and cartography, he returned to England and entered the circle of Sir Joseph Banks, who encouraged him to widen his interests to include the geography of the ancient world. In this work, published in 1814, Rennell compares the actual topography of the area in which Troy was believed to be located with the accounts of ancient commentators on Homer, with the Homeric accounts themselves, and finally with the work of ancient geographers. Without offering his own solution to the problem, he demolishes with zest the then current theory that Troy was located at the village of Bournabashi - a conclusion with which Heinrich Schliemann later agreed. Rennell's posthumously published work on the topography of Western Asia is also reissued in this series.