Item #147 Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c. Anonymous /, Oliver, Boyd, common in children’s authorship generally unattributed, popular ethnographic works of the early 19th century.
Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.
Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.
Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.
Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.
Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.
Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.
Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.

Picturesque Travels in Asia, Africa, America, &c.

Publisher: Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, High Street; sold also by G. & W.B. Whittaker (London) and W. Turnbull (Glasgow). 1820.

Illustration: Embellished with 24 woodcuts (depicting Bedouins, Natives of Kamtschatka, Corea, China, Otaheite, Esquimaux, etc.).

Edition: Second Edition

Binding: Contemporary quarter calf with marbled paper boards, gilt spine rules, spine labels “Picturesque Travels” with volumes numbered “1” and “2.” Early paper shelf labels present (“F15”). Binding worn, rubbed, corners bumped, and boards edgeworn, but holding firm.

Description: A rare early 19th-century ethnographic work in two compact volumes, Picturesque Travels presents a panoramic introduction to the world’s peoples for a British/Scottish audience during the height of the Romantic fascination with global exploration. Published in Edinburgh by Oliver & Boyd, this second edition is “embellished with twenty-four wood cuts” showing peoples from Asia, Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas, including the Bedouins, Kamtschatkans, Koreans, Chinese, Otaheitans (Tahiti), and the Esquimaux (Inuit).

Each short section combines descriptive geography with anecdotal accounts of dress, manners, and customs — material derived from travel literature of the 18th century (Cook, Anson, Russian and missionary reports) and adapted for youthful or popular audiences. The woodcuts provide a striking window into how early 19th-century Europeans imagined and stereotyped global “others,” making the work of enduring value to collectors of early ethnography, colonial studies, missionary history, and children’s literature.

Context & Significance:

Publisher: Oliver & Boyd was one of Edinburgh’s leading publishers of juvenile and educational works, often disseminating travel narratives and “improving” literature aimed at young readers.

Colonial & Imperial Context: The volume reflects Britain’s imperial reach and the curiosity (often couched in stereotypes) about non-European peoples. Its descriptions of Kamtschatka, Corea (Korea), and Otaheite (Tahiti) are some of the earliest accessible depictions for general readers.

Rarity: While travel narratives of the grand scale were common, illustrated juvenile ethnographic works survive far less frequently in complete sets, especially with all woodcuts present.

Collecting Angle: Highly desirable for collections in ethnography, colonial/imperial studies, children’s literature, and the history of anthropology.

Condition: Good–Fair. Contemporary bindings worn, spines scuffed with loss to leather at head/tail, paper shelf labels affixed. Marbled boards rubbed. Internally quite clean, with some foxing and toning. Plates crisp and well-printed, with no significant loss. Hinges tender but holding.

Annotation: This two-volume Edinburgh set exemplifies how British publishers popularized the expanding horizons of exploration and empire for a younger or popular audience. Illustrated with 24 woodcuts, it brings together anecdote, geography, and ethnography in a visually striking form. Scarce in the trade.

Item #147

Price: $250.00

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