Journeys and journals

From scientists on expedition to soldiers on colonial missions, from explorers on the high seas to artists in the jungle – there are enormous numbers of travel diarists whose writings and illustrations have yet to be revealed to the wider world. Their journals are nothing if not varied, and open on to strange new horizons for those who read them. Their accounts, with engaging spontaneity, bear witness to distant adventures, from times long past to the present day. The role of artists has been fundamental in the development of the travel diary genre right from the time it first came to be ecognised as such. Some of the diarists featured in this book are unknowns, included purely for the exceptional quality of their journals. Others will need no introduction – James Cook, William Turner, Eugène Delacroix, Paul Gauguin and Peter Beard to name but a few. This magnificently illustrated book traces the history of travel diaries, from the earliest, sometimes crude, collections of drawings and notes to volumes that are today considered works of art in emselves. Within these pages you will find journals of astonishing beauty and interest, some of them never before revealed to the public. Here is an opportunity to become up to date with a genre that is both creative and scientific while being popular and accessible. This book takes you on a voyage coloured with the wonders and discoveries of the last five hundred years, exploring an artistic territory in a constant state of flux.