Travelling Women: Voices that Crossed Borders

It is a common habit today to discuss works of travel by women as forgotten relics that justly require new light shone upon them. Such an attitude does those books, and those women, a disservice in their contemporary success and influence. Many women authors of travel accounts were at the forefront of the zeitgeist of their day and were well respected voices in their field.

First edition of Emily Eden's 'Up the Country'

Emily Eden’s ‘Up the Country’ rocked the literary world upon its release and was the talk of every social engagement in 1866. Despite coming out more than twenty years after the disastrous retreat from Kabul through the Kyber pass, its frank revelations about the hasty retreat of the British Army dredged up the scandal for which Eden’s brother George, then Governor-General of India, was held largely responsible.

Scarce first issue of 'Amurath to Amurath' by Gertrude Bell

Before Getrude Bell became synonymous with Iraq and its independence she was known as a travel writer, particularly of Persia, as well as producing more academic works on Islamic architecture and languages. Amurath to Amurath recounts her first journey to Iraq that would spark her lifelong concern for the country, and was well received back home.

Through Deserts and Oases of Central Asia' by Ella Sykes and her Brother Percy, signed by them both

Ella Sykes accompanied her brother to his various consulate postings in Central Asia but was much more than a glorified travel companion. Her travel accounts, of which this was the second, were warmly received alongside her reputation as a prominent member of the Central Asian Society. This work contains the first women’s account of life at Kashgar, pushed the understanding of Chinese Turkestan, and thoroughly out-classed her brother’s rather dusty portion on history and geography to boot.

Inscribed presentation copy of 'Sunshine and Storm in the East' by Lady Anna Brassey

Lady Anna Brassey wasn’t just a travel author: she was a bona fide bestseller. Her series of travelogues, recounting her voyages around the world on the Sunbeam, were perfect escapist reading and would fly off the shelves. Lady Brassey unfortunately suffered from chronic bronchitis, which was partially the reason for her constant yacht cruises in warmer climates, and this copy is signed to her longtime doctor.