Published in 1824, this two-volume English translation covers, up to May 1818, one of the nineteenth century's great scientific enterprises.

Published in 1824, this two-volume English translation covers, up to May 1818, one of the nineteenth century's great scientific enterprises.

Thomas Falkner (1707 84), one-time pupil of both Richard Mead and Isaac Newton, was an English Jesuit missionary who lived for nearly forty years in South America until 1767, when he returned to England following the Jesuits' expulsion from Cordoba. Originally published in 1774 in the hope that it 'might be of some public utility, and might also afford some amusement to the curious', this is a first-hand description of Patagonia, believed to have been consulted by Charles Darwin on board the Beagle. Illustrated with a map drawn from the author's knowledge and experience, it is an account of...

The American artist George Catlin (1796 1872) travelled extensively and wrote about his experiences. After abandoning the legal profession, Catlin moved to Missouri in 1830 to launch his career as a painter of Native Americans with the express purpose of creating a gallery dedicated to America's indigenous population. He was greatly influenced by the Romantic ideal of the 'noble savage' and spent time living with various tribes, recording their everyday life and habits. In the 1850s, he also made three trips to South America and began to draw comparisons between the populations. He shares his...

After the French and Indian War, in which France and England had fought over the control of North America, the French government decided to send an expedition to the Falkland Islands, or Isles Malouines, with a view to founding a colony where the Acadians expelled from Canada could settle. Under the command of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729 1811), the 1763 4 expedition claimed these islands for France and established a base at Port Saint Louis. This work, translated from French and first published in English in 1771, is an illustrated account of this endeavour by Antoine-Joseph Pernety...

Officer and author Basil Hall (1788 1844) joined the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen and saw service during the Peninsular War. His subsequent career involved extended journeys to the East Indies, the Far East and South America. During these postings - encompassing elements of exploration, diplomacy and scientific observation - he kept a journal, and from his notes he published successful accounts of his voyages. This two-volume work, first published in 1823 and reissued here in its revised 1824 third edition, recounts his travels and first-hand observations during his final commission to...

Officer and author Basil Hall (1788 1844) joined the Royal Navy at the age of thirteen and saw service during the Peninsular War. His subsequent career involved extended journeys to the East Indies, the Far East and South America. During these postings - encompassing elements of exploration, diplomacy and scientific observation - he kept a journal, and from his notes he published successful accounts of his voyages. This two-volume work, first published in 1823 and reissued here in its revised 1824 third edition, recounts his travels and first-hand observations during his final commission to...

The acclaimed Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was referred to by Charles Darwin as 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. Several of his works were in the library aboard the Beagle, including the multi-volume Personal Narrative of Travels, two books on geology and Tableaux de la nature (all reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). Darwin's copy of this two-volume 1811 New York edition of Humboldt's Political Essay (originally published in French earlier that year) is inscribed 'Buenos Ayres', suggesting he acquired it there in 1832-3, without its...

The acclaimed Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was referred to by Charles Darwin as 'the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived'. Several of his works were in the library aboard the Beagle, including the multi-volume Personal Narrative of Travels, two books on geology and Tableaux de la nature (all reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection). Darwin's copy of this two-volume 1811 New York edition of Humboldt's Political Essay (originally published in French earlier that year) is inscribed 'Buenos Ayres', suggesting he acquired it there in 1832-3, without its...

Although the author Anthony Trollope (1815-82) enjoyed great success as a novelist, he was also an eager and perceptive travel writer. In this account of his voyage to the West Indies and Central America, published in 1859, he recounts the many places he visited, including Jamaica, Cuba, Barbados, Trinidad, Panama and Costa Rica. Trollope brings his eye for detail to these islands at an important time: slavery had been abolished in the British colonies, but persisted in Cuba, and he depicts this complex region and its people with all the vividness of his novels. Though sometimes reflecting...