Travel writing in the Institute of Historical Research Library

The IHR library's collections are arranged geographically, by period and type of material, so items on travel writing are located in different sections of the library, usually according to the region being described. The library collects bibliographies and archive guides, reference works, historiography, published primary sources and periodicals, covering western Europe and its colonial history, from the fifth century onwards.

Within the primary sources are a lot of editions of travel writing, including the publications of the Hakluyt Society, a vast series of "editions of primary records of voyages, travels and other geographical material". Different types of travel are represented, for example pilgrimage, exploration, leisure and educational travel. Material is generally collected in its original language. The items listed below are just a selection highlighting the range of materal we hold, you can browse our full holdings on the catalogue. Some of our material is in closed-access- see further details.

Bibliographies and Guides to archives

Useful as a starting point into sources on the subject, these range from general to specific subjects. These are usually at the start of the relevant classmark sequence, e.g. B.0 for British history, EF.0 for French history etc., although not for all collections.

• Bracewell, Wendy and Drace-Francis, Alex, A Bibliography of East European travel writing on Europe | General collection
• Waterston, Elizabeth, The travellers--Canada to 1900 : an annotated bibliography of works published in English from 1577 | Colonial history collection
• Woods, Christopher, Travellers' accounts as source material for Irish historians | Irish collection
• Reisverslagen van Noord-Nederlanders van de zestiende tot begin negentiende eeuw : een chronologische lijst | Low Countries collection
• Clerici, Luca, Viaggiatori italiani in Italia, 1700-1998 : per una bibliografia | Italian collection
• Goulden, Richard, Kent town guides, 1763-1900 : a bibliography of locally-published Kent town guides, together with accounts of the printing, publishing, and production of town guides in certain towns in Kent | English local history collection

Reference works/ biographical dictionaries/ Historiography

• Hulme, Peter and Youngs, Tim, The Cambridge companion to travel writing | General collection
• Brothers, Barbara and Gergits, Julia, British travel writers, 1837-1875 and 1876-1909 | British collection
• García Romeral, Carlos, Diccionario biobibliográfico de viajeros por España y Portuga | Spanish collection
• García-Romeral Pérez, Carlos, Diccionario de viajeros españoles : desde la Edad Media a 1970 | Colonial history collection
• A dictionary of British and Irish travellers in Italy, 1701-1800 | Italian collection
• Quanchi, Max, Historical dictionary of the discovery and exploration of the Pacific islands | Asia collection
• Davies, Mark, A perambulating paradox : British travel literature and the image of Sweden c. 1770-1865 | Scandinavian collection

Published sources

We hold a huge range of editions of travel writing, including the volumes of the Haklyut Society, shelved together in the Colonial section (classmark C) and the Linschoten Vereeniging publications, in the Low Countries collection (ENA). A large proportion is also held in general collection (E), arranged chronologically. There is also some material within the regional collections usually, but not always, classified according to the place being described rather than the nationality of the traveller. A selected list follows.

• Un évêque à la Diète : le voyage de Guillaume de Challant auprès de l'empereur Sigismond (1422) | General collection
• Le devisement du monde (Travels of Marco Polo) | Colonial history collection
• Winship, George Parker, Sailors narratives of voyages along the New England coast, 1524-1624 | Colonial history collection
• João Rodrigues's account of sixteenth-century Japan (Hakluyt Society) | Colonial history collection
• Kongens reise til det ytterste nord : dagbøker fra Christian IVs tokt til Finnmark og Kola i 1599 | Scandinavian collection
• Studium und Kavalierstour der fränkischen Reichsritter Christoph Ernst und Ludwig Reinhold Fuchs von Bimbach 1681-1686 : Briefe und Dokumente | General collection
• Writings on travel, discovery and history by Daniel Defoe | British collection
• Quellen zur Geschichte des Reisens im Spätmittelalter | General collection
• The journeys of Celia Fiennes | British collection
• Oriani, Barnaba, Un viaggio in Europa nel 1786 : diario di Barnaba Oriani, astronomo milanese | General collection
• Gell, William, Sir, 1777-1836, A tour in the lakes made in 1797 | English local history collection
• Il viaggi o in Svezia e in Norvegia (1799-1800) | Scandinavian collection
• The travel journals of Robert Hyde Greg of Quarry Bank Mill : travels in Scotland, Spain and Portugal, France, Italy and the Ottoman Empire 1814-17 | General collection
• Mier Noriega y Guerra, José Servando Teresa de, Memorias : un fraile mexicano desterrado en Europa | Latin-American collection
• New year in Cuba : Mary Gardner Lowell's travel diary, 1831-1832 | Latin-American collection
• Pons, Anaclet, Diario de un burgués : la Europa del siglo XIX vista por un valenciano distinguido | General collection
• Sinkler Whaley LeClercq, Anne, Elizabeth Sinkler Coxe's tales from the grand tour, 1890-1910 | Colonial history collection
• Huntford, Roland, The race for the South Pole : the expedition diaries of Scott and Amundsen | Colonial history collection

Periodicals

We hold a range of journals which include relevant articles. Current copies of our journals are on open access in the library, and back issues can be ordered from the stack. Many are also available online within the building via the links on the catalogue entry. BBIH and JSTOR are examples of the online databases that can be used to locate journal articles.

Theses

For history theses across other universities, see History Online below. See further information on theses holdings at the IHR library.

Electronic Resources

A full list of our electronic resources is available at http://www.history.ac.uk/library/collections/eresources. Below are a few examples of resources that could be useful for this subject:

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• Bibliography of British and Irish History
• America: History and life
• Early English Books online (EEBO)
• Eighteenth century collections online (ECCO)
• Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online
• Electronic Enlightenment
• Reviews in History
• History Online: browse theses, books and grants.

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