Travel Legend and Lore: An Encyclopedia

Reading long passages of this innovative encyclopaedia, engrossed in the tales it unfolds, impatient of all interruptions, your reviewer was consumed by envy that he had failed to think of a similar book first. Professor Fritze’s purpose here is to outline the expectations of travellers of all periods before the dawn of the twentieth century. “What did they expect to encounter regarding roads, sea travel, accommodation, foreigners and strange lands?” Other of the 284 entries are concerned with mythical and legendary travel lore and knowledge bequeathed by the ancient, classical, and mediaeval worlds that exerted a continuing influence deep into...