George Macartney (1737 1806) was a British statesman, diplomat and administrator who held a succession of important appointments. In 1764 he was sent as envoy extraordinary to Russia, but described the Russian nobility as 'vain, petulant, inconsequent, indiscreet, and changeable'. After several years as Chief Secretary for Ireland (1767 1772) and a governorship in the West Indies, he served as Governor of Madras in the early 1780s, a difficult role surrounded by controversy and intrigue. In 1792 1794 he travelled to China on behalf of the government and the East India Company on a mission to...

Richard Schomburgk (1811 1891) accompanied his brother Robert Hermann Schomburgk on his mission to survey the boundary of British Guiana (his account is also reissued in this series). Richard was commissioned by the Prussian government to find new flora, fauna and ethnographical specimens for the Berlin Botanic Gardens and the royal museums. The publication in 1847 1848 in Germany of this three-volume account of the expedition was supported by Alexander von Humboldt, who was a close friend. The third volume epecially was considered a major taxonomical work. Schomburgk contracted yellow fever,...

Richard Schomburgk (1811 1891) accompanied his brother Robert Hermann Schomburgk on his mission to survey the boundary of British Guiana (his account is also reissued in this series). Richard was commissioned by the Prussian government to find new flora, fauna and ethnographical specimens for the Berlin Botanic Gardens and the royal museums. The publication in 1847 1848 in Germany of this three-volume account of the expedition was supported by Alexander von Humboldt, who was a close friend. Schomburgk contracted yellow fever, and found the preservation and transportation of his specimens...

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain...

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain...

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain...

The Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 1806 across America from Pittsburg to the Pacific and back was the third recorded transcontinental journey. President Jefferson had negotiated the Louisiana Purchase of over two million square kilometres from the French in 1803, and the aim of the expedition was to investigate the territory involved. He commissioned a Corps of Discovery as a scientific and military expedition to survey the acquisition, appointing his aide Meriwether Lewis (1774 1809) to lead it. It was hoped to discover that the Missouri and other rivers could be used for...

The Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 1806 across America from Pittsburg to the Pacific and back was the third recorded transcontinental journey. President Jefferson had negotiated the Louisiana Purchase of over two million square kilometres from the French in 1803, and the aim of the expedition was to investigate the territory involved. He commissioned a Corps of Discovery as a scientific and military expedition to survey the acquisition, appointing his aide Meriwether Lewis (1774 1809) to lead it. It was hoped to discover that the Missouri and other rivers could be used for...

Mungo Park's fatal second expedition along the Niger, told from journals, letters and documents by the African Institution in 1815.

Captain James Burney (1750 1821), the son of the musicologist Dr Charles Burney and brother of the novelist Fanny Burney, was a well-travelled sailor, best known for this monumental compilation of voyages of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After joining the navy in 1764, he sailed on Cook's second voyage between 1772 and 1774, and was also present on the ill-fated third voyage. He retired from the navy in 1784 and turned to writing works on exploration. These volumes, published between 1803 and 1817, and regarded as the standard work on the subject for much of the nineteenth century, contain...