Published by Eureka Press, Tokyo, and distributed outside Japan
by Routledge.
This is the second part of a new facsimile series which reprints
"The Modern Traveller," originally published in 30 volumes between
1825 and 1829.
--Edited by Josiah Conder, known as the editor of journals like
"The Eclectic Review" or "The Patriot," "The Modern Traveller "was
a successful series of travel books published just prior to Britain
s transport revolution which saw the development and rapid
expansion of roads and railways.
--Reflecting Britain s imperial ambitions and the expansion of
its Empire around the globe, the series had global range, including
coverage of the Middle East, Africa, North & South America, and
Asia. It provided general readers with the latest information on
each country s geography, history, political situation, culture,
customs, major cities, travel routes along historic sites, scenic
spots, and so on.
--Each volume contains illustrations and foldout maps which are
all faithfully reproduced in the reprint.
-- The second part of the series is from the seventh volume to
the thirteenth: the four volumes from the seventh to the tenth are
for India; the eleventh for Burma, Siam, and Anam; the twelfth and
the former part of the thirteenth for Persia; and the latter part
of the thirteenth for China.
-- Including very interesting description and views of Britain
to the Asia in early 19th century, those volumes are valuable
source for any researchers on the history of relationship between
Britain and Asian countries.
Extract from the New Introduction to the 1st part by Noriyuki
Harada
--- Publishing in the early nineteenth century greatly
influences scientific reasoning and dissemination of knowledge.
"The Modern Traveller: A Description, Geographical, Historical, and
Topographical of the Various Countries of the Globe," now reprinted
and published by Eureka Press in Japan, can be regarded as one of
the most influential volumes of this type of publication. It was
originally serialized from 1825 to 1829 and was finally compiled
and published by James Duncan, a London publisher, in 1830 as the
whole set of thirty volumes on which this reprint edition is based.
The text of the 1830 edition is almost the same as that of the
first serialized publication except for some corrections by the
editor himself; the original maps as well as illustrations, too,
are improved in the 1830 edition. This Eureka Press edition
magnifies the 1830 edition twenty per cent for the reader s
convenience.--- --- How can we now evaluate the whole set of thirty
volumes of "The Modern Traveller"? Conder s close examination of
early nineteenth-century travel books is of course replaced and
updated by more modern "Geographical, Historical, and
Topographical" research; as for maps and illustrations, too, we can
use more accurate and convenient means. Although the unity of
geographical, historical and topographical description is still
useful and valuable, better versions are available for the modern
reader. It may be that the excellent unity of "The Modern
Traveller" itself requires a revision after nineteenth- and
twentieth-century colonialism, imperialism, Darwinism, and
sceptical thoughts on the advancement of knowledge.
However, we should not forget that Conder s editorial process
clearly shows the way to understand the world and the energy his
contemporaries held in general. Being well aware of academic
advancement in geography, he strenuously accumulated information
and knowledge, and examined them closely. This accumulation of
information and knowledge can be widely observed in many academic
and scientific disciplines from the late eighteenth century;
successive publication of dictionaries of various genres,
encyclopaedias like "Encyclopaeedia Britannica" (first published
from 1768 to 1771), and numerous literary anthologies clearly
illustrates the tendency. As mentioned above, the adjective
"Modern" seems to have Conder s special connotation of his academic
and scientific interest, but the whole set of thirty volumes of
"The Modern Traveller" tells the energy of early nineteenth-century
people who were eager to understand the modern world. And needless
to say, this energy directed the world to the nineteenth- and
twentieth-century situation that we know well in the history of
modern international relations. As a reprint edition, this Eureka
Press version of "The Modern Traveller" maintains the energy as
well as remaining faithful to the original and keeping its form
intact.
Half a century after the publication of "The Modern Traveller,"
Conder s grandson, Josiah Conder the younger (1852-1920), came to
that country of Japan to which his grandfather had not given a
volume of description in the edition, and made a large contribution
to Japanese modern architecture. Some of the buildings he designed
and those by the Japanese architects of a younger generation he
educated are extant and fully utilized for the original purpose. In
a sense, "The Modern Traveller" still continues travelling and the
footsteps reveal the essence of the modernization of the world on
which we should lay the foundation of our thoughts about its
future. "
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