Customer Reviews

Voyages of Discovery: A Visual Celebration of Ten of the Greatest Natural History Expeditions

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This is a beautiful book in so many ways. If it were illustrations alone, it would be a superlative book. But it's much more than that.

Voyages of Discovery, as the title states, is a visual celebration of ten of the greatest Natural History expeditions ever undertaken.

Sir Hans Sloane to Jamaica, 1687-1689
Hermann, Loten, and de Bevere in Ceylon, 1672-1757
Maria Sibylla Merian in Surinam, 1699-1701
William Bartram in North America 1753-1777
Cook's Pacific Crossing, 1768-1771
Cook in the South Seas, 1772-1775
Flinders & Bauer Down Under in Australia, 1801-1805
Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle, 1831-1836
Wallace & Bates in the Amazon, 1848-1862
HMS Challenger Expedition, 1872-1876, exploring the seas

The first chapter of the book yields to beautiful 4-color illustrations in the chapter on Ceylon and beyond. Not being a history buff, almost all of this information is news to me, and so is the engaging text that tells the stories. Dr. Tony Rice has done a great job telling the stories of each expedition giving them historical context, personal details on the sacrifices and costs to explorers, and also the settings where the voyages occurred. He isn't afraid to talk about the slavery that Sloane witnessed in Jamaica, and while this is sad to read about, it shows a willingness toward truth telling, which no historical text should lack.

Most outstanding, though, are the incredible illustrations. For students or lovers of art, botany, bugs, animals, or illustration of living things, this book has so much to offer. It could serve as a text or a beautiful coffee table book. And if you're a natural history nerd, this book is an absolute Must Have. Just to learn how some of these fantastic pieces were acquired is worth the purchase price.

I discovered this find at the local library but it is definitely worth the purchase price, which is quite reasonable considering the treasures within. There's also a bibliography, index, and full picture credits at the end. Foreword by Dr. Michael Dixon, Director of the Natural History Museum, London.

I give Voyages of Discovery the highest recommendation.

This book is an excellent and concise introduction natural history, exploration and discovery.

It contains many fine color prints of the botanical, ornithological and zoological illustrations made by the artists brought to record the experience.

This book is also a fine read.

I highly recommend it.