Women into the Unknown A Sourcebook on Women Explorers and Travelers

Despite social restraints and limited financial resources, women have traveled in the past two centuries to virtually every unexplored region of the earth, sometimes with a male companion and often leading their own expeditions. In this book, Tinling offers portraits of some forty-five enterprising and intrepid women who have explored uncharted territory investigating the lives and customs of remote human societies, study rare plants and wild animals, or excavating the ruins of ancient civilizations. The subjects include English, American, and continental European women. In addition to detailed biographical essays, the author presents comprehensive bibliographical data on the published and unpublished works of the subjects and the articles and books that have been written about them. The explorations of these women have yielded impressive contributions to many areas of knowledge, including geography, archaeology, botany, zoology, and anthropology, as well as sensitive accounts of travel and discovery. Each of the biographical sketches supplies a chronological listing of the subject's writings and a list of chief bibliographical sources. The volume concludes with an annotated list of travel books by women in the English language, a general bibliography, and an index. This book is an appropriate resource for studies in women's history, geography, social history, and anthropology, and an appealing choice for women readers with an interest in travel and biography.Tinling, Marion is the author of 'Women into the Unknown A Sourcebook on Women Explorers and Travelers', published 1989 under ISBN 9780313253287 and ISBN 0313253285.