Great Humboldt Commemoration 2018/2019: A bibliophile deluxe edition titled "Courage and Curiosity." A keen observational and differentiating ability, along with an insatiable desire for new encounters, made Alexander von Humboldt an epoch-making world explorer 200 years ago. "The Book of Encounters," which gathers the most emphatic testimonies from the "American Travel Diaries," showcases a warm-hearted individual unafraid of contact. During his journey to the American tropics from 1799 to 1804, the Prussian cosmopolitan documented a multitude of exotic physiognomies and viewed the world in a way that no one had before him. As one of the first Europeans, he criticized colonialism, the slave trade, and the zeal for Christian conversion. In contrast, he emphasized the dignity and cultural richness of supposedly primitive peoples. Convinced that there is no inferior...