‘I am on the road to Tombuctoo’? Who has not wanted to pen these words, as explorer Alexander Gordon Laing (1794-1826) did back in November 1825. Our current exhibition - Intrepid Journeys. Travelling with the Hakluyt Society – has begun in the de Beer Gallery, Special Collections, University of Otago. It highlights Laing’s arduous trip (he did not make it back) and many others. 

Intrepid Journeys is an exhibition that highlights two aspects. The first is the Hakluyt Society, established in London in 1846 with a commitment to print rare or unpublished voyages and travels. Beginning in 1847 with The Observations of Sir Richard Hawkins, Knt in his Voyage into the South Sea in the year 1593, their publication programme has continued, enthralling readers around the world with the accounts of a wide range of voyagers and travellers, who manage to document something of their toil and adventures as they traverse unknown and distant regions. The second aspect celebrates the work of Dr Esmond de Beer (1895–1990), the Dunedin-born scholar of John Evelyn and John Locke, who was President of the Hakluyt Society from 1972 to 1978. De Beer and his sisters were generous and indefatigable supporters of the Society and its activities. He is the University of Otago Library’s prime benefactor, giving his large library collection to Special Collections.   

Rather than concentrate on well-travelled paths like the Pacific, more attention is given to lesser known accounts, those that reveal something of those strange, exotic, out of the way areas of the world that have been explored, travelled, and mapped. Books and places on display range from 16^thcentury Japan, 14^th century Greenland, and Ibn Battuta’s 14^th century ‘Muslim’ journeys, to 17^thcentury India, mysterious Timbuktu, and the interior of Australia in the 19^th century. Magellan’s circumnavigation is covered as well as some of James Cook’s voyages, including J.C. Beaglehole’s edited publications. Importantly, there is one feature of these Hakluyt Society publications that dominates: the maps. Not only do these documents help ground the reader in what is the real world, ‘terra firma’, but they also offer excellent visual impact. 

Intrepid Journeys. Travelling with the Hakluyt Society

16^th June to 8^th September 2017

1^st floor, Central University Library (ISB)

Hours: 8.30 to 5.00 pm de Beer Gallery, Special Collections

And below is a link to a radio interview about the Hakluyt Society exhibition, Arts on Sunday, National Radio. http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201847115