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William Bartram (1739-1823) was America's first native born naturalist, artist, and botanist and first author in the modern genre of writers who portrayed nature through scientific examination as well as personal understanding. The son of noted botanist, John Bartram, William, from his mid teens, was noted for the quality of his botanic and ornithological drawings. His role in the maintenance of his father's botanic garden sparked William's interest in the scientific field, adding many rare species to it. In 1773, William embarked upon a four-year journey through the eight southern colonies ranging from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, to the Carolinas, Florida and Mississippi. «The Travels of William Bartram» is an account of this journey that combines the natural sciences, travel and philosophy in a literature style that is not just solely scientific. The book entails the many native flora and fauna he discovered, encounters with the intrepid Seminoles Indians, battles with aggressive alligators, and observations on God's device for Nature.

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"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville" which was written in Anglo-Norman French is believed to have first appeared sometime in the mid to late 14th century. It soon would be translated into many other languages and would subsequently be very popular in its time. While the identity of Sir John Mandeville is thought to possibly be based on a real historical figure the work seems to be largely one of fiction. «The Travels of Sir John Mandeville» depicts the wandering journey of an English knight to the holy land, the Middle East, the Far East, and lands beyond. While not as historically accurate as the earlier Marco Polo's «Travels,» the work gained wide notoriety and is said to have influenced the explorer Christopher Columbus. A wildly fantastical tale of a medieval journeyman, «The Travels of Sir John Mandeville» is a read sure to bring out the explorer in all of us.

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Based on a trip with his brother in 1839, «A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers» is an excellent example of Thoreau's talent for naturalistic writing. In exquisite detail Thoreau depicts the nature that surrounds him over the course of his trip. One of only two books to be published during his lifetime, Thoreau began work on «A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers» following his brother's death in 1842, however the work was not fully completed and published until 1849. A failure when first published «A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers» has since been recognized as one of Thoreau's great naturalist works.

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Giraldus Cambrensis, or Gerald of Wales, was born around 1146 in Wales. A fascinating twelfth century churchman, he became one of the most important English chroniclers of the High Middle Ages, leading the way for modern historiography. In 1118, Gerald set out to explore Wales with his companion Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury. Their journey is chronicled here in «The Itinerary Through Wales». In «The Description of Wales», Gerald of Wales documents the rich and textured culture of Wales. In it we witness the day-to-day life of the peoples of Wales, learning of the cultural history and unique customs of this colorful country. We see their methods of farming, their means of communication, and their dealings with English conflict. A foundation of English history, «The Description of Wales» stands out for its detail and authenticity. These two works stand out as important early historical documents of the Welsh people and their land.

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Scottish-born naturalist and writer John Muir undertook a daring adventure in 1867, just a few years after the Civil War. After recovering from an injury at a saw mill, Muir decided that he wanted to explore the world. He left his life in Indiana and walked one thousand miles to Florida. Without any real direction or purpose other than to study the flora and fauna, Muir trekked south through Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida with little more than a map, a compass, a brush, soap, and a change of underclothes. He slept under the open stars when he couldn't find a family to take him in, and sometimes Muir walked for forty miles without having food. Though Muir had planned to sail to South America at the end of his journey, he contracted malaria and instead headed to California, where he would ultimately spend the majority of his life. «A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf» is a classic naturalist text set against the backdrop of the post civil war south.

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Over a thirteen month period between 1893-1894 Joshua Slocum became the first person to circumnavigate the globe by himself. This remarkable journey, which inspired many other sailing enthusiasts to do the same, is detailed in this memoir. Filled with numerous illustrations, «Sailing Alone Around the World» is a real-life nautical tale of adventure filled with perilous encounters. A classic story of self-determination, «Sailing Alone Around the World» will thrill and delight readers of all ages.

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Based on several trips to the Cape and originally published as a series of articles, Henry David Thoreau's «Cape Cod» is a remarkable work that depicts the natural beauty of Cape Cod and the nature that surrounds it. Thoreau, a consummate lover of the outdoors and nature is right at home in the Cape and he details his excitement of the area with naturalist portraits of the indigenous species and animals. Any lover of nature or of Cape Cod in general will delight in this captivating depiction of the area in the early to mid 1800s.

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Henry James (1843-1916) was an America-born English writer whose novels, short stories and letters established the foundation of the modernist movement in twentieth century fiction and poetry. His career, one of the most significant and influential in English literature, spanned over five decades and resulted in a body of work that has had a profound impact on generations of writers. Born in New York, but educated in France, Germany, England and Switzerland, James often explored the cultural discord between the Old World (Europe) and the New World (United States) in his writings. From 1872 to 1909 James wrote an extensive collection of essays illustrating his travels throughout Italy, particularly his time in Venice and Rome. Since its publication in 1909, «Italian Hours» has delighted readers with its vivid descriptions and sentimental recollections of James' time in the country he loved dearly.

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Published in 1890 under the pseudonym Nellie Bly, “Around the World in Seventy-Two Days” is the true account by journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochran of her daring trip around the world. Inspired by Jules Verne’s book “Around the World in Eighty Days”, Bly proposed to her newspaper editor that she undertake a similar adventure. On November 14, 1889, she boarded a steamer ship in New York with the goal of completing her journey in 75 days. Travelling with very little, Bly journeyed first to England and then on across Europe and Asia by ship and train. Bly was able to send many brief updates by telegraph and sent longer letters by post that often took weeks to reach New York. A rival newspaper, the “Cosmopolitan”, sent a reporter of their own in the opposite direction to try and beat Bly, which Bly only learned of once she arrived in Hong Kong. While Bly had been delayed in Asia, she arrived back in New York nearly three days ahead of schedule and completed her amazing odyssey to worldwide amazement. The tale of her bold adventure remains an exciting and fascinating account of a woman who dared convention and succeeded.

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First published serially and then into a book in 1879, “A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains” is one of the many accounts of Isabella L. Bird’s amazing travels and adventures. Born in Yorkshire, England in 1831, Bird was never formally educated and was often sickly as a child, but she was an avid reader and loved the outdoors. In 1854, at the age of twenty-two, she left a comfortable life in England for her first trip abroad to America. She fell in love with discovering new places and defied tradition while undertaking grand adventures as an unmarried woman. Bird went onto travel to Australia and Hawaii, while publishing several accounts of her experiences, before finding her way to Colorado. “A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains”, her fourth publication and her most famous, contains the account of six months of her travels in 1873 through the rugged terrain of the Colorado Rockies. The book is based upon her colorful letters sent back home to her sister and the account relates the many hardships of the great western frontier, the unique characters she meets, and the incredible natural world she found in the newly settled western territories. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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