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skbat's review against another edition
2.0
I have a problem with the presentation of female explorers in this book. There are 7 women and 63 men represented, which perpetuates the historical exclusion of women from scientific pursuits. Wikipedia lists 90 female explorers, not counting astronauts - surely more than 7 left interesting sketchbooks of their experiences!
Every bio of a female explorer also contains patronizing language, such as Maria Sibylla Merian's - apparently silkworm observation is "a peculiar pastime for a young girl", but "her greatest legacy was to remind us... most of all, never to underestimate girls who collect caterpillars." Repeated descriptors such as "unconventional", "petite", and "frail-looking" further undermine the achievements of women by focusing on physical characteristics that are never mentioned in the men's bios.
In addition, the book is Eurocentric and makes only half-hearted attempts to describe feats of exploration in such terms. There seems to be no inclusion of POC or explorers from non-European countries, and little discussion of the impacts of colonialism.
I wanted to like this book, to feel inspired by the art of discovery and adventure. Instead, I walked away frustrated and determined to do my own research on pioneering explorers who sadly continue to be ignored and excluded from history.
Every bio of a female explorer also contains patronizing language, such as Maria Sibylla Merian's - apparently silkworm observation is "a peculiar pastime for a young girl", but "her greatest legacy was to remind us... most of all, never to underestimate girls who collect caterpillars." Repeated descriptors such as "unconventional", "petite", and "frail-looking" further undermine the achievements of women by focusing on physical characteristics that are never mentioned in the men's bios.
In addition, the book is Eurocentric and makes only half-hearted attempts to describe feats of exploration in such terms. There seems to be no inclusion of POC or explorers from non-European countries, and little discussion of the impacts of colonialism.
I wanted to like this book, to feel inspired by the art of discovery and adventure. Instead, I walked away frustrated and determined to do my own research on pioneering explorers who sadly continue to be ignored and excluded from history.
bluenancyhawaii's review against another edition
5.0
This beautiful book offers samples of the writing and drawing of explorers from all over the world and going back centuries. Each entry — offered alphabetically — gives a little summary of the explorer’s life and work, and the rest is devoted to his/her own writing. As a nosy Parker, I love reading other people’s letters and journals, and this book allows a small glimpse into the daily life of extraordinary people. I particularly appreciate the number of female explorers who are represented and presented as equals to the men.
magpiefox's review against another edition
5.0
This beautiful book offers samples of the writing and drawing of explorers from all over the world and going back centuries. Each entry — offered alphabetically — gives a little summary of the explorer’s life and work, and the rest is devoted to his/her own writing. As a nosy Parker, I love reading other people’s letters and journals, and this book allows a small glimpse into the daily life of extraordinary people. I particularly appreciate the number of female explorers who are represented and presented as equals to the men.
naturalistnatalie's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. It's not a book I wanted to sit down and read cover to cover. Instead, I would read about two or three explorers at a time and then scrutinize their sketches. The authors included a wide variety of artistic talent among the explorers. Some images were photorealistic reproductions of beautiful landscapes or organisms. Others were crude sketches of people or maps. All of them showed a moment in these people's lives they thought was important enough to put down on paper. Then, we can come and admire it, even hundreds of years later. I think I most enjoyed the bits of culture captured on the page when the explorer met some new people.
It did feel to me that there was a preponderance of polar explorers represented. The authors did seem to make an effort to include people other than dead white men, but dead white guys definitely dominated the explorers represented. Even so, the sheer variety of images reprinted in the book were a feast for the eyes and mind.
It did feel to me that there was a preponderance of polar explorers represented. The authors did seem to make an effort to include people other than dead white men, but dead white guys definitely dominated the explorers represented. Even so, the sheer variety of images reprinted in the book were a feast for the eyes and mind.
jdgcreates's review against another edition
3.0
A beautiful book but more historical and dense that I was in the mood for; great for anyone interested in art and history though!
catstopmenow's review against another edition
4.0
If you know me, you know I love a good journal, so I enjoyed this book a lot—it's beautiful and has so many cool things in it. A little heavy on Antarctica and a little light on female explorers, which was disappointing because I'm sure females explore and I'm also sure we write about our travels. I don't know why there were so few, but it was still a gorgeous book to read. Learned of some cool explorers that I will need to read more about.
tonstantweader's review against another edition
5.0
Explorers’ Sketchbooks: The Art of Discovery & Adventure is a stunningly beautiful and fascinating book by Kari Herbert and Huw Lewis-Jones. This is one of those books you will fall in love with within moments and want to linger over. It will sit on your side table for months so you can pick it up and page through the illustrations and stop and look at one in great detail, while you imagine the explorer sitting in a tent at the end of the day, jotting down impressions of the day and perhaps sketching in a small illustration of something seen while trekking.
Before Go-Pro, iPhones, and tablets, people who traveled wrote down what happened in notebooks, capturing their impressions, making sketches, even pulling out watercolors to illustrate the more glorious fauna and flora.
These notebooks are tattered and torn, thick with usage, their pages wrinkled and covered with ink and stains. There is romance just in looking at them, these slender books full of adventure, science, and wonder. Consider the word of Ghillean Francs, “Notebooks are the essential part of my exploring kit. Other things of course are important in a practical sense…and each might mean the difference between life and death in the jungle. But, in terms of making a genuine contribution to knowledge, the careful marks that you make in a journal will be the things that outlive you.”
And Kari Herbert and Huw Lewis-Jones have collected a book sampling from seventy of these explorers. Each explorer is presented with a quote, a short biography, and a few illustrative pictures or in a few cases, photos of the stacks of their journals. I also love the inclusion of relatively unknown explorers like Olivia Tonge who at the age of fifty decided to travel to India and explore and no one could stop her. Her illustrations are exquisite and bizarre, with two frogs sharing their page with a pair of earrings that hold a forehead chain and a large, intricate nose ring.
Of course, this book fascinated me from the outset with a comprehensive selection of Arctic and Antarctic explorers including Robert Falcon Scott, shown above on the left. Scott is a special favorite of mine for his eloquent writing, his commitment to science above all, continuing to sledge with his samples even though they probably contributed to his death. He was headstrong and perhaps foolish, unwilling to sacrifice dozens of dogs to reach the Pole. The map on the right is of John Speke and James Grant’s trip from Zanzibar to the Nile, identifying Lake Victoria as the headwaters.
In addition to illustrations from the sketchbooks and the biographies, the authors added a list of recommended books to read about each of the explorers featured. It’s a reading list full of books I want to read.
I love this book. I look at the pictures and imagine when they were made, I look at the journals and picture paraffin or whale-oil illuminating their tents piled with furs for warmth or open to catch a cool evening breeze at an oasis in the desert, in the jungle, on a mountain…challenging the elements by day and capturing the experience before resting for the night. Their own handwriting, their own sketches bring them alive in my imagination. And then there is the language. Some of them are so poetic. Like Colin Thubron who wrote, “Sometimes a journey arises out of hope and instinct, the heady conviction, as your finger travels along the map: Yes, here and here…and here. These are the nerve-ends of the world.” Doesn’t that make you want to know more about him?
I also think it is an ideal present. After all, who will love this book? Artists, historians, science lovers, travel and adventure lovers, armchair travelers, naturalists, geologists, botanists, anthropologists, lovers of the unknown and mysterious. Who in the world will not love this book? That is the harder question.
★★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/9781452158273/
Before Go-Pro, iPhones, and tablets, people who traveled wrote down what happened in notebooks, capturing their impressions, making sketches, even pulling out watercolors to illustrate the more glorious fauna and flora.
These notebooks are tattered and torn, thick with usage, their pages wrinkled and covered with ink and stains. There is romance just in looking at them, these slender books full of adventure, science, and wonder. Consider the word of Ghillean Francs, “Notebooks are the essential part of my exploring kit. Other things of course are important in a practical sense…and each might mean the difference between life and death in the jungle. But, in terms of making a genuine contribution to knowledge, the careful marks that you make in a journal will be the things that outlive you.”
And Kari Herbert and Huw Lewis-Jones have collected a book sampling from seventy of these explorers. Each explorer is presented with a quote, a short biography, and a few illustrative pictures or in a few cases, photos of the stacks of their journals. I also love the inclusion of relatively unknown explorers like Olivia Tonge who at the age of fifty decided to travel to India and explore and no one could stop her. Her illustrations are exquisite and bizarre, with two frogs sharing their page with a pair of earrings that hold a forehead chain and a large, intricate nose ring.
Of course, this book fascinated me from the outset with a comprehensive selection of Arctic and Antarctic explorers including Robert Falcon Scott, shown above on the left. Scott is a special favorite of mine for his eloquent writing, his commitment to science above all, continuing to sledge with his samples even though they probably contributed to his death. He was headstrong and perhaps foolish, unwilling to sacrifice dozens of dogs to reach the Pole. The map on the right is of John Speke and James Grant’s trip from Zanzibar to the Nile, identifying Lake Victoria as the headwaters.
In addition to illustrations from the sketchbooks and the biographies, the authors added a list of recommended books to read about each of the explorers featured. It’s a reading list full of books I want to read.
I love this book. I look at the pictures and imagine when they were made, I look at the journals and picture paraffin or whale-oil illuminating their tents piled with furs for warmth or open to catch a cool evening breeze at an oasis in the desert, in the jungle, on a mountain…challenging the elements by day and capturing the experience before resting for the night. Their own handwriting, their own sketches bring them alive in my imagination. And then there is the language. Some of them are so poetic. Like Colin Thubron who wrote, “Sometimes a journey arises out of hope and instinct, the heady conviction, as your finger travels along the map: Yes, here and here…and here. These are the nerve-ends of the world.” Doesn’t that make you want to know more about him?
I also think it is an ideal present. After all, who will love this book? Artists, historians, science lovers, travel and adventure lovers, armchair travelers, naturalists, geologists, botanists, anthropologists, lovers of the unknown and mysterious. Who in the world will not love this book? That is the harder question.
★★★★★
http://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2017/04/13/9781452158273/