After his 1868 journey through Greece and Asia Minor to the mythical places from Homer's writings, Schliemann wrote the publication "Ithaque, le Peloponnèse, Troie" ("Ithaca, the Peloponnese, Troy") in 1869. This travelogue in French appeared in German translation in the same year. Schliemann preceded this book with an autobiographical preface in ancient Greek and Latin. On the advice of his cousin Adolph, he presented it to the University of Rostock as a dissertation. Working as a judicial councilor in Schwerin, Adolph Schliemann was familiar with the formal procedures and, therefore, took care of all the formalities.
The main report states: "The achievements of Mr. Schliemann in the archaeological-topographical area ... are ... so commendable that I have no reservations about voting for the author's doctorate. That we, in this case of an autodidact of such a self-acquired ability for scholarly antiquarian research and of such great research zeal, may refrain from the statutory procedure, ...".
In his absence, Heinrich Schliemann was awarded the doctorate on April 27, 1869. With this academic degree, the doors to science were now open to him.
"I visited Greece and Asia Minor this summer in particular and have now spent three months working day and night to write a work about my archaeological research in these countries ..." H.S., Letter to Wilhelm Rust on 16.12.1868