"This compilation of excerpts and facsimiles of 70 notebooks belonging to explorers throughout history is as educational as it is visually enticing. Readers will lap up John James Audubon's Carolina Parakeet drawn in June of 1811, Charles Darwin's 1837 "tree of life" sketch, and Alexandrine Tinne's self-portraits at a ball in 1855 and in a Bedouin tent a year later, among many other illustrations. However, this collection proves to be as much about words, for the writing is exemplary. The exquisite, informative reproductions are supported by hearty and wistful quotes from the explorers and by the authors' detailed captions... Lewis-Jones and Herbert's introduction and essays by four living explorers, most notably Wade Davis, raise the form high. Brief biographies contribute finely crafted, economical rhetoric as well as well-researched material and sound opinions. This bountiful book provides delicious discovery in itself, albeit from the comfort of a chair by the fire."
-Publishers Weekly
A Book of the Year "But for pure unchallenging delight, I most enjoyed an astonishing collection of works of art created by explorers and adventurers down the centuries. It is a beautiful multi-edited sort of album, entitled Explorers' Sketchbooks...If it were not such a sumptuous volume it would be glorious for reading in the bath."
-The Spectator
Starred Review
The intersection of adventure, art, and memoir doesn't get any better than this title, edited by polar guides and husband-and-wife team Lewis-Jones (Face to Face) and Herbert (Polar Wives). This delicious oversized sampler of illustrated field notes offers alphabetically arranged excerpts from the notebooks of 70 naturalists, ethnographers, scientists, and mountaineers, famous and obscure, from John White's 1585 depictions of Algonquin Indians to Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean's paintings of rock collecting on the moon. A brief biography of each person, with highlights from their travels, accompanies high-quality illustrations: not only landscapes and wildlife but also portraits of long-vanished people, architecture, and customs, plus journal ephemera-sure to please sketchbook lovers. Most predate the mid-20th century, so predictably, few women and even fewer nonwhite artists are featured; issues of colonialism and appropriation are touched on, but these are not in-depth studies. Rather, they are tantalizing vignettes of those who took up pencil, paints, and paper to communicate firsthand the wonder of their discoveries."
-Library Journal
Top 10 travel books "This magical book celebrates the artwork of explorers, bringing together more than 400 beautiful sketches and paintings produced by 70 explorers from the 16th century to the present. The book is compiled by historian and polar guide Huw Lewis-Jones and writer-photographer Kari Herbert - daughter of the polar explorer Sir Walter "Wally" Herbert - who have had the enviable task of diving into the archives to find work from Captain Scott, Charles Darwin and Abel Tasman, as well as lesser-known explorers, such as Adela Breton, who recorded Mexico's Maya monuments."
-The Guardian (UK)
Best Travel Books of the Year
-Financial Times (UK)
"Recommended"
-Scientific American, April 2017
"An inspiration and resource for nature study, history, or geography. Or, just page through the book, pretending to be an explorer from a day gone by."
-GeekDad
★ 02/15/2017
The intersection of adventure, art, and memoir doesn't get any better than this title, edited by polar guides and husband-and-wife team Lewis-Jones (Face to Face) and Herbert (Polar Wives). This delicious oversized sampler of illustrated field notes offers alphabetically arranged excerpts from the notebooks of 70 naturalists, ethnographers, scientists, and mountaineers, famous and obscure, from John White's 1585 depictions of Algonquin Indians to Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean's paintings of rock collecting on the moon. A brief biography of each person, with highlights from their travels, accompanies high-quality illustrations: not only landscapes and wildlife but also portraits of long-vanished people, architecture, and customs, plus journal ephemera—sure to please sketchbook lovers. Most predate the mid-20th century, so predictably, few women and even fewer nonwhite artists are featured; issues of colonialism and appropriation are touched on, but these are not in-depth studies. Rather, they are tantalizing vignettes of those who took up pencil, paints, and paper to communicate firsthand the wonder of their discoveries. VERDICT For sketchers, armchair explorers, and anyone with a love of adventure and illustration. Because each entry is brief, a list of where individual explorer's archives are held would have been appreciated.—Lisa Peet, Library Journal
