Book Description

The Age of Exploration and Discovery may well have started in the 15th century, but for the British, the 19th century saw the rise of the British Empire and an explosion in world travel. The travel narratives written during this century were profuse, and by some estimates more travel narratives were written during the first half of the 19th century than in all preceding centuries. These accounts tell of wondrous zoological and botanical finds, of topography never before imagined, and of exotic peoples as well. At the time, there was one publisher, John Murray, known for its utter domination of the travel narrative field. The caliber and profile of their list was known throughout the UK and Europe, and into the US as well. The authors of the house included Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Washington Irving, and Sir Walter Scott. And in its list of travel writing and exploration, the house boasted the authors Charles Darwin and Charles Lyell. Murray s name became as synonymous with travel writing and exploration as it was with literary giants. Travels into Print is a tour through the archives and files of the House of Murray, and marvelous expedition in the geography of travel and exploration writing, knowledge, and reception in the 19th century. Rather than focusing on narratives of a particular region, or scientific area of interest, or particular period, the work uses a source that cuts across all of these areas, the publisher. Steeped in book files, and correspondence about edits, and revisions, sent between Murray and his staff and explorers, the book addresses the ways in which the texts were written, the role of truth in the accounts, correspondence as a form of production, and the writings as travel documents. This is a wonderful history of the book, told from the perspective of a legendary book and author maker. "