Wayward Women : A Guide to Women Travellers

by Robinson

• ISBN13: 9780192802330
• ISBN10: 019280233X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Summary

For over sixteen centuries, women have been undertaking great journeys andwriting about their experiences, yet the traditional image of them is still thatof an intrepid Victorian lady vigorously prodding the ends of the earth with herparasol. But by their very nature, women travel writers are a non-conformistbreed. The abbess Etheria's fourth-century account of a pilgrimage to the HolyLand relates not only the religious significance of her journey, but also thedifficulties of mountaineering on Mount Sinai. Mary Wollstonecraft, who iscelebrated as a pioneer feminist, wrote of her secret voyage in 1795 toScandinavia - all for the love of a cad. Isabella Bird was a meek and dutifulwoman at home, but once let loose in 'the congenial barbarism of the desert',she assumed an unladylike 'up-to-anything free-legged air'; while hercontemporary Mary Kingsley canoed herself serenely through the white waters ofWest African rivers impeccably dressed in black silk and bonnet. Closer to ourown time, some of the most glamorous women of the 1920s and 1930s were likely tofeel just as comfortable in The Tatler as in the cockpit of a Gypsy Moth orstalking dinner in a central-Asian wasteland. In fact, the only thing thesewomen have in common is that they all wrote first-hand accounts of theirjourneys.Wayward Women recounts the adventures of some 400 of these travellers, togetherwith full bibliographical details of all the books they produced between them.These writings, many of which are brought to light here for the first time ingenerations, form a significant and previously neglected body of literature,full of insight, courage, and humour.

Author Biography

Jane Robinson was born in Edinburgh and brought up in North Yorkshire. After graduating from Oxford, she joined a firm of antiquarian book dealers specializing in travel, later leaving to pursue a writing career. Her books include Parrot Pie for Breakfast: An Anthology of Women Pioneers and Unsuitable for Ladies: An Anthology of Women Travelers.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	xvi
Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys	1	(34)
The Glamour of the Back of Beyond	35	(27)
Unfeminine Exploits	62	(16)
An Up-to-Anything Free-Legged Air	78	(27)
In Search of the Picturesque	105	(20)
The Means to an End	125	(27)
Quite Safe Here with Jesus	152	(22)
Journeys into Print	174	(26)
Ornaments of Empire	200	(27)
Pay, Pack, and Follow	227	(26)
In Camp and Cantonment	253	(20)
The Gilding Off	273	(20)
Life in the Bush	293	(16)
Maps	309	(18)
Useful Reference Books	327	(2)
Geographical Index	329	(11)
Index of Authors	340