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Travel literature

Travel

Hakluyt Society 1894-1900

A bibliography is available online.

The Hakluyt Society produces scholarly editions of primary sources on the voyages and travels undertaken around the world. These include early accounts discussing the geography, ethnology and natural history of the regions visited. Although many editions relate to British ventures, with documentary sources in English, the majority concern non-British enterprises and appear in translation. All editions contain scholarly annotation which put the material in the context of global development and world history.

The Salisbury Library and the Cardiff Rare Books Collection feature works on:

  • Captain Cook’s voyages
  • William Bligh and the voyages of the Bounty
  • The Grand Tour
  • Pilgrimages to the Holy Land
  • Missionary work
  • Exploration, including works by H. M. Stanley
  • Travel literature by Thomas de Quincy, Henry James, Thomas Jefferson, Sir Walter Scott, Lord Alfred Tennyson and T. E. Lawrence.

Other illustrated travel sources include:
A large collection of Victorian UK travel guides featuring topographical views (in particular Wales and Borders, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany).

The Frith-Beard archive contains a collection of hand-illustrated European travel notebooks from the late 19th century/early 20th century.