In 1804 when W. B. Stevenson (fl. 1803 1825) arrived on the small island of Mocha, just off the coast of South America, he stepped onto a continent on the brink of mass revolution. Over the next twenty years, he had an extraordinary range of experiences: as a traveller, a Spanish government official, a prisoner, and as secretary to an ex-Royal Navy admiral turned revolutionary. In this three-volume work, published in 1825, Stevenson gives a dramatic, fascinating account of the life and culture of South America as it began to break free from Spanish colonial rule. Volume 1 focuses on Stevenson's arrival in 1804, his initial impressions, and travels in Chile, Colombia and Peru. It describes food and drink, society and culture, administration and climate. It also covers his imprisonment in Lima by the Spanish authorities.

Sir Thomas Graham Jackson (1835-1924) was one of the most distinguished architects of his generation, particularly renowned for his work in Oxford for the University and the Military College. Jackson was also a prolific author, producing numerous books relating to the history of architecture, often illustrated with his own sketches. Originally published in 1923, this book is formed from a series of personal accounts describing experiences during the author's extensive travels. The text also contains illustrations by Jackson from a wide variety of locations. This is a highly readable volume that will be of value to anyone with an interest in travel writing and architectural history.

The English geologist George William Featherstonhaugh (1780 1866) was commissioned to undertake a survey of the Arkansas territory in America, and spent 1834 5 travelling through the southern slave states to reach his destination. He was shocked by the slave system of the south, saying he 'had never seen so revolting a sight'. When he began to write about his experiences, Featherstonhaugh was urged not to publish his work in the US, as his opinions might 'irritate a powerful interest', and his manuscript remained unpublished until 1844, after his return to England. His lively two-volume account of his adventures contains a fascinating mixture of scientific and sociological detail. It is a closely observed record of Southern society in the period before the Civil War that candidly documents the violence experienced by Black slaves, Native Americans and frontier settlers. Volume 2 describes the geography and inhabitants of Arksansas and New Orleans.

William Scoresby junior (1789-1857), explorer, scientist, and later Church of England clergyman, first travelled to the Arctic when he was just ten years old. The son of Arctic whaler and navigator William Scoresby of Whitby, he spent nearly every summer for twenty years at a Greenland whale fishery. He made significant discoveries in Arctic geography, meteorology, oceanography, and magnetism, and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1824. First published in 1823, this book recounts Scoresby's voyage to Greenland in the summer of 1822 aboard the Baffin, a whaler of his own design. On this journey, his penultimate voyage to the north, he charted a large section of the coast of Greenland. His narrative also includes descriptions of scientific observations and geographical discoveries made during the voyage, and the appendices includes lists of rock specimens, plants and animal life, and notes on meteorological and other data.

In 1860, Charles Francis Hall (1821-71), the American polar explorer, embarked on the first of two voyages to the Canadian Arctic region aimed at investigating the fate of Sir John Franklin's lost expedition of 1847. During his time in the Arctic, Hall lived amongst the Inuit community, learning their language and embracing their everyday life. First published in 1864, Hall's recollections remain of great interest to anthropologists, sociologists and geographers. His eye-witness accounts of the indigenous people's dwellings, interpersonal relationships, hunting pursuits, birth and death rites, methods of transport, and survival strategies in severe weather conditions provide an insight into Inuit culture in the nineteenth century. Volume 1 describes Hall's journey north, arrival at Holsteinborg, the Danish administrative centre in Greenland, and onward voyage to Baffin Island, where his search for traces of Franklin, and his experience of Inuit life, began.

In 1860, Charles Francis Hall (1821-71), the American explorer, embarked on the first of two voyages to the Canadian Arctic region aimed at investigating the fate of Sir John Franklin's lost expedition of 1847. During his time in the Arctic, Hall lived amongst the Inuit community, learning their language and embracing their everyday life. First published in 1864, Hall's two-volume work remains of great interest to anthropologists, sociologists and geographers. His eye-witness accounts of the indigenous people's dwellings, hunting pursuits, birth and death rites, transportation, interpersonal relationships, and survival strategies in severe weather conditions provide an insight into Inuit culture in the nineteenth century. In Volume 2 he tells of his discovery in Frobisher Bay of artefacts from Martin Frobisher's sixteenth-century mining venture; the survival of these relics, together with his understanding of Inuit memory systems, convinces him that traces of Franklin and his crew may yet be found.

In 1895, naturalists Henry J. Pearson (1859-1913) and Colonel H. W. Feilden (1838-1921) set out to Norway for the first time, aiming to study Arctic bird life, geology and botany. This book, first published in 1899, is a collection of their diary entries and papers. Full of humour and written almost novelistically, Pearson's diary describes his ornithological findings and the other noteworthy features of their voyages - he includes an anecdotal account of the process of catching a whale, and describes their own less than ideal ship, and the many difficulties of travelling in the often inhospitable and little-explored North. In the second half of the book, Feilden focuses on geology and botany in three technical papers accompanied by his own photographs. A remarkable account of an ambitious project, this book forms part of the nineteenth-century genre of scientific travel literature, and contains still-relevant information about the Arctic environment.

The archaeologist D. G. Hogarth (1862 1927) was, when he died, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum and president of the Royal Geographical Society. He was instrumental in launching T. E. Lawrence's career, employing him at Carchemish and encouraging him to learn Arabic. This book, published in 1896 and described by Lawrence as 'one of the best travel books ever written', relates a journey through Ottoman Turkey, with additional chapters on Egypt and Cyprus. It combines a highly readable account of the practicalities and pitfalls of archaeology with Hogarth's (often unsympathetic) opinions on political problems of the area, including the position of the Armenians and Kurds. Hogarth subsequently became acting director of the Arab Bureau in Cairo during the First World War, and attended the Versailles peace conference. This book illuminates the experiences that developed Hogarth's political views and the close relationship between archaeology and politics in the Middle East in the period.

The archaeologist D. G. Hogarth (1862-1927) was, when he died, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum and president of the Royal Geographical Society, whose gold medal he was also awarded. This 1910 book is his account of various episodes in his career from 1897, when he covered the Cretan revolt against Turkey for The Times, to his 1907 excavations in Asyut, Egypt. A mixture of travel writing and archaeological reporting - the volume also contains an academic report on the excavation of Carchemish - this book, a follow-up to his A Wandering Scholar in the Levant (also reissued in this series), and intended for a popular audience, remains a highly readable account of the practicalities behind Hogarth's intellectual career. It also provides background to Hogarth's political involvement with the Near East, as acting director of the Arab Bureau in Cairo during the First World War and an attendee at the Versailles peace conference.

William George Clark (1821 78) is probably best remembered as the co-editor (with W. Aldis Wright) of the Cambridge Shakespeare (1863 6; also reissued in this series). A fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, he was a classical and literary scholar and editor, but travelled widely in his vacations, and this work, first published in 1858, is an account of a tour of Greece undertaken in 1856 with W. H. Thompson (1810 86), who later succeeded William Whewell as Master of Trinity. Clark's plan was to visit the archaeological sites of the Peloponnese using W. M. Leake's various surveys as a guide and comparing Leake's observations and his own with those of the ancient traveller Pausanias. The result is an engaging combination of travel narrative and serious archaeological and topographical research backed up by a profound knowledge of classical literature. It remains an interesting resource for those studying the history of Greek archaeology.

The British explorer Sir Richard F. Burton (1821 90) was a colourful and often controversial character. A talented linguist and keen ethnologist, he worked in India during the 1840s as an interpreter and intelligence officer for General Sir Charles Napier, and published several books about his experiences in 1851 2. He first gained celebrity, however, for his adventurous 1853 trip to Mecca, under the disguise of a pilgrim, which is described in this lively three-volume publication (1855 6). Few Europeans had ever visited the Muslim holy places; one of them was John Lewis Burckhardt, whose 1829 account is also reissued in this series. Volume 1 of Burton's book describes his arrival in Egypt, the weeks he spent in Alexandria and Cairo polishing his linguistic and cultural skills, and how, at the end of Ramadan, he travelled to Suez by camel, and from there by boat to Yanbu al-Bahr.

Cornish-born writer, traveller and controversialist James Silk Buckingham (1786 1855) spent much of his early life as a sailor in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and went on to publish accounts of his extensive travels to India, Palestine and Persia. His criticisms of the East India Company and the Bengal government led to his expulsion from India in 1823. In the 1830s he became a Member of Parliament and campaigned for social reforms and for the promotion of the temperance movement. He founded several journals, including the periodical The Athenaeum, covering a wide range of topics from literature to popular science. This illustrated two-volume work, published in 1827, recounts Buckingham's journey through Mesopotamia, giving descriptions of its ancient sites and opinions of its modern inhabitants. In Volume 1, Buckingham recounts in great detail his journey from the historic city, Aleppo in Syria to Sinjar (now in north-western Iraq).

Cornish-born writer, traveller and controversialist James Silk Buckingham (1786 1855) spent much of his early life as a sailor in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and went on to publish accounts of his extensive travels to India, Palestine and Persia. His criticisms of the East India Company and the Bengal government led to his expulsion from India in 1823. In the 1830s he became a Member of Parliament and campaigned for social reforms and for the promotion of the temperance movement. He founded several journals, including the periodical The Athenaeum, covering a wide range of topics from literature to popular science. This illustrated two-volume work, published in 1827, recounts Buckingham's journey through Mesopotamia, giving descriptions of its ancient sites and opinions of its modern inhabitants. In Volume 2, Buckingham continues his travels through Mesopotamia, from Sinjar in the north-west of the region to the city of Baghdad.

Cornish-born writer, traveller and controversialist James Silk Buckingham (1786 1855) spent much of his early life as a sailor in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and went on to publish accounts of his extensive travels to India, Palestine and Persia. His criticisms of the East India Company and the Bengal government led to his expulsion from India in 1823. In the 1830s he became a Member of Parliament and campaigned for social reforms and for the promotion of the temperance movement. He founded several journals, including the periodical The Athenaeum, covering a wide range of topics from literature to popular science. In this work, first published in 1821, Buckingham describes his journey from Egypt by sea to Syria and then to Palestine. He ascended Mount Tabor and visited the Holy Sepulchre, but considered his experiences in Bashan and Gilead, east of the Jordan, to form the climax of his journey.

This works is an account by John Bacon Sawrey Morritt (1771-1843), traveller, classical scholar and friend of Sir Walter Scott, of his Grand Tour during the years 1794-6. His letters home were edited by G. E. Marindin (1841-1939) and published in 1914. In 1790 Morritt inherited the Rokeby estate, County Durham, and came into a considerable fortune. Educated at St John's College, Cambridge, he graduated in 1794, and soon afterwards set out for the continent. Visiting Constantinople, Troy, the Greek islands, Crete, Naples, Rome and Venice, Morritt developed a lifelong passion for European art and culture (he purchased the Rokeby Venus in 1813). He was well-read in Greek and Latin literature, had a considerable taste for antiquarian research, and was undeterred by the dangers of traversing Europe during the French Revolutionary Wars. According to his editor, 'it would be difficult to imagine a better traveller'.

Targeted at both intrepid travellers and 'readers at home', this two-volume account of Spanish history, topography and culture by Richard Ford (1796 1858) combines the rigour of a gazetteer with the humour and pace of a private travel diary. First published in 1845, as part of John Murray's series of guidebooks, the work made an immediate impact upon the reading public, and it was celebrated in the press as the 'most comprehensive and accurate account of that country' hitherto produced. Through a series of hand-picked routes, readers encounter an array of landscapes and experiences as varied as coastal Cadiz, lively Barcelona, bull fights, beggars and pig farming. Opening with a guide to the country, its currency, 'gesticulations' and 'slang', Volume 1 leads the reader from Andalucia to Granada and on to Catalonia. The result is an engaging account that will be of interest to modern tourists and historians alike.

Targeted at both intrepid travellers and 'readers at home', this two-volume account of Spanish history, topography and culture by Richard Ford (1796 1858) combines the rigour of a gazetteer with the humour and pace of a private travel diary. First published in 1845, as part of John Murray's series of guidebooks, the work made an immediate impact upon the reading public, and it was celebrated in the press as the 'most comprehensive and accurate account of that country' hitherto produced. Starting in the Kingdom of Leon, and again using a series of hand-picked routes, Volume 2 leads readers to the pilgrim shrine of Santiago de Compostela and through Galicia and the Basque provinces, introducing them to castles, universities, art collections and the 'inhospitality of Madrid'. The result is an engaging account that will be of interest to modern tourists and historians alike.

Henry C. Barkley (c.1825 c.1895) was a civil engineer and author. His travel books included Between the Danube and the Black Sea (1876), which covers the five years in which he was working on the construction of a railway line linking the Danube and the Black Sea, and Bulgaria before the War (1877), written at the time of the Russo-Turkish war. (He also wrote a guide to rat-catching for public-school boys, and My Boyhood (1877), a collection of tales from his own childhood.) Published in 1891, this work recounts the author's adventures on a journey that took him in 1878 from Bucharest, through Istanbul, across Asia Minor and back to Trebizond (now Trabzon) on the Black Sea coast, a distance of 1400 miles, completed in 96 days. He describes with zest and humour the habits and customs of Christian and Muslim communities that he encounters on the way.

It is 1875, the time of the 'Great Game', when the British and Russian Empires are vying for power in central Asia. A British officer rides for Khiva, a Russian city closed to European travellers. He is on a dangerous mission, to learn if Russia plans to invade India, the 'jewel in the crown' of the British Empire. It might be the plot of a Rudyard Kipling novel; instead it is the true story of Captain Frederick Burnaby (1842 85). Burnaby joined the British army in 1859, but in periods without active duty he crafted his own adventures. He ballooned across the English Channel, travelled in Spain and Russia, and was wounded, and eventually killed, fighting for Britain's empire. This account of his perilous journey to Khiva, published in 1876 and immediately reprinted, brought him instant fame. The book includes maps of the route he took and an appendix.

This book of 'Persian Pictures' is the first published work of Gertrude Bell (1868 1926), the celebrated traveller, archaeologist, Orientalist and supporter of Arab independence. She first visited Persia in 1892, when a relative by marriage was British minister there, and published her impressions in a series of essays in 1894. Her subjects range from Roman ruins to Ottoman graves to shopping in the bazaars, and from the bustling life of cities to the isolation of the desert. Having studied the Persian language in preparation for her journey, she was able to enter into the life of the country, and especially of its women, more deeply than a casual visitor, and indeed her second publication was a free-verse translation of the fourteenth-century poet Hafiz. Bell captures a sense of delight at a mysterious land still marked by the traces of many of the great civilisations of the past.

Scottish-born Alexander Mackay (1808 52) spent much of his career as a journalist in North America. He was in Britain working for the Morning Chronicle when, in January 1846, he set sail again for the United States, this time to report on the debates over the Oregon question, relating to British and American claims to territory in the Pacific North-West. He spent several months in Washington, D.C. before travelling around the country as far south as the Mississippi, and west to the Great Lakes. This three-volume work, published in 1849, uses his journey to frame a general account of 'the political system, the social life, and the material progress of the Union'. Mackay observed a vibrant and prosperous country, and his work captures the energy of these boom years. Volume 2 focuses on political parties, slavery and railways, and describes Mackay's travels in Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana.

Scottish-born Alexander Mackay (1808 52) spent much of his career as a journalist in North America. He was in Britain working for the Morning Chronicle when, in January 1846, he set sail again for the United States, this time to report on the debates over the Oregon question, relating to British and American claims to territory in the Pacific North-West. He spent several months in Washington, D.C. before travelling around the country as far south as the Mississippi, and west to the Great Lakes. This three-volume work, published in 1849, uses his journey to frame a general account of 'the political system, the social life, and the material progress of the Union'. Mackay observed a vibrant and prosperous country, and his work captures the energy of these boom years. In Volume 1, Mackay describes New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, and explains American society and the political and judiciary systems.

'If modern Egypt is so far away that it takes three weeks to get there, ancient Egypt is infinitely more distant.' So wrote novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist Amelia Edwards (1831-92) in this, the last published work of her career. Having first travelled to Egypt in 1873, in 1889-90 Edwards was invited to lecture in the United States, campaigning for the Egypt Exploration Fund, of which she was joint honorary secretary. In five months she addressed 100,000 people at over 110 meetings in sixteen states. First published in 1892, a month before her death, this book is a collection of her lectures, containing substantial illustrations, additions, notes, and references. Exhibiting both Edwards' ability to make abstruse subjects come alive without losing factual correctness, and the humour and enthusiasm with which she recounted her experiences, this book marks the culmination of twenty years' research and exploration.

The adventurous and unconventional Lady Hester Stanhope (1776-1839) set off to travel to the East in the early nineteenth century. She had been hostess to her uncle, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, and after his death she received a government pension and decided to leave England. Her personal physician Charles Meryon (1783-1877) wrote this three-volume memoir of their travels, first published in 1846. She had a reputation as an eccentric, but thought of herself as the 'Queen of the desert' and indeed achieved considerable influence in the places she travelled to. Eventually she settled in the Lebanon, where she lived out the remainder of her life. Volume 3 includes Lady Hester's failed attempt to find hidden treasure among the ruins of Ascalon, and details of her actions after a French traveller was killed in the desert and she ordered the punishment of the offenders.

Having decided to try his fortune in the new colonies of South Australia and New Zealand, budding geologist James Coutts Crawford (1817-89) landed at Sydney in 1838 and lost no time in buying and driving a herd of cattle from Braidwood, New South Wales, to Adelaide, a distance of more than three hundred miles of unfamiliar territory. This remarkable journey proved typical of the rest of his travels, during which he served variously as explorer, translator, and sheriff of Wellington. This book, which includes illustrations and maps, is his own record of his experiences, first published in 1880. Even at that time, New Zealand and Australia had changed radically since Crawford's first arrival in the earliest, minimal colonies; today, his account offers not only a fascinating insight into the difficulties and dangers of life there, but a useful source for students and researchers in history and geology.