Journey to the Scandinavian North and the Island of Iceland in the Year 1845. First

Ida Laura PfeifferProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5

Word count: 236K words
Chapters: 24

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Reise nach dem skandinavischen Norden und der Insel Island im Jahre 1845. ErsterAuthor: Pfeiffer, Ida, 1797-1858,Language: German, Class: DL: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Release Date: Sep 15, 2014

Editor's review

Ida Pfeiffer was a major nineteenth-century woman traveller, and this book, the first volume of her account, records her 1845 journey north through Scandinavia to Iceland. In plain, meticulous prose she describes transport, lodgings, towns and local customs; her observations are unadorned but information-dense, giving the work value both as travel literature and as historical geography. The Project Gutenberg edition preserves the German original, making it easy to search place names and trace her route. Read it as an on-the-spot record of nineteenth-century Scandinavia, map in hand, following the author north and sensing the hardships and curiosity of travel then; the Icelandic chapters are especially rare and can be read alongside later travel texts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the history and culture of Scandinavia and Iceland
Lovers of travel literature who enjoy nineteenth-century travelogues
Learners with good German who want historical and geographical records
Readers studying women's travel writing and nineteenth-century travel history

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a modern practical guidebook with up-to-date information
Those who struggle with German and will not use reference tools
Readers who prefer tightly plotted narrative and lack patience for travelogue detail

Reading tips

Keep a map of Scandinavia at hand and mark place names and the route as the author travels
Read against other contemporary Iceland travelogues to compare perspectives
Take notes on towns and customs that interest you as background material
On a first reading, start with the Iceland section, then go back to the mainland journey

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a complete account of the Iceland journey?

This is the "first volume" named in the title, covering the author's 1845 journey north through Scandinavia and to Iceland; it is not the complete travelogue. Note the volume's scope to avoid confusing it with later volumes.

Can I read it without any German?

The original is in German, and readers with no German will find it hard. Use translation tools or related scholarship, and start with the author's life and route before selecting chapters of interest.

Does the book have any practical value for modern travel?

This is a historical travel record from the mid-nineteenth century; its transport and lodging details no longer apply to today's travel. Its value lies in historical geography and travel literature, not practical guidance.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Ida Laura Pfeiffer Author · Austrian · 1797–1858

Ida Laura Pfeiffer (née Reyer, 1797–1858) was an Austrian traveler, explorer and travel writer born in Vienna. She began traveling alone at the age of 45: in 1842 she went to Palestine and Egypt, in 1845 she toured Scandinavia and Iceland, and she later made two round-the-world journeys, reaching Southeast Asia, the Americas, South Africa and Madagascar. The library holds five of her works, including Visit to Iceland and the Scandinavian North, A Woman's Journey Round the World, and her German account of the 1845 journey through Scandinavia and Iceland. These works record her observations and the customs of foreign lands in a plain, detailed style. Her travel books were translated into seven languages, making her one of the earliest and most famous professional women travelers.