Terra Incognita

Fantastic Worlds- Terra Incognita

By the mid-1800s, the polar regions and the interior of Africa were among the last parts of the globe to be seen and mapped by Western explorers. These remote locales became fixtures of popular culture, as armchair travelers read about perilous adventures in these new and unfamiliar worlds. Novelists adapted true-life narratives to their fictions and spun imaginative tales of adventure in unknown lands.

Cover of Adventures of two youths in the open Polar Sea. The voyage of the Vivian to the north pole and beyond.

Adventures of two youths in the open Polar Sea

Knox, Thomas Wallace
Harper & Brothers
1885
Cover of Arctic researches, and life among the Esquimaux being the narrative of an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, in the years 1860, 1861, and 1862

Arctic researches, and life among the Esquimaux

Hall, Charles Francis
Harper & Brothers
1865
Cover of Cinq semaines en ballon voyage de découvertes en Afrique par trois Anglais

Cinq semaines en ballon

Verne, Jules; Riou, Edouard; Montaut, Henri de
J. Hetzel et Cie
c1867
Cover of Collection of United States patents granted to Thomas A. Edison, 1869-1884

Collection of United States patents granted to Thomas A. Edison, 1869-1884 v.2

Edison, Thomas A.; United States. Patent Office
U.S. Patent Office
1869-1884

70. Menlo Park

Cover of Frank Reade weekly magazine - containing stories of adventures on land, sea & in the air.

Frank Reade weekly magazine No. 13

Senarens, Luis
Frank Tousey
1902-1904
Cover of Frank Reade weekly magazine - containing stories of adventures on land, sea & in the air.

Frank Reade weekly magazine No. 2

Senarens, Luis
Frank Tousey
1902-1904
Cover of Frank Reade weekly magazine - containing stories of adventures on land, sea & in the air.

Frank Reade weekly magazine No. 25

Senarens, Luis
Frank Tousey
1902-1904
Cover of Frank Reade weekly magazine - containing stories of adventures on land, sea & in the air.

Frank Reade weekly magazine No. 84

Senarens, Luis
Frank Tousey
1902-1904
Cover of Missionary travels and researches in South Africa - including a sketch of sixteen years' residence in the interior of Africa, and a journey from the C

Missionary travels and researches in South Africa c.1

Livingstone, David; Day & Son,; William Clowes and Sons,; Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian Libraries)
J. Murray
1857
Cover of Northward ho!, or, Baffled, not beaten

Northward ho!, or, Baffled, not beaten

Barri, Odoardo; Cheyne, John P.; Concanen, Alfred; Stannard & Son; Bella C. Landauer Collection of Aeronautical Sheet Music (Smithsonian Institution. Libraries)
J.B. Cramer & Co
[1879]
Cover of The cruise of the Snowbird a story of Arctic adventure

The cruise of the Snowbird

Stables, Gordon
A.C. Armstrong
1884
Cover of The lake regions of Central Africa a picture of exploration

The lake regions of Central Africa v.1 (1860)

Burton, Richard Francis; Phillips, George Faudel; Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian Libraries)
Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts
1860
Cover of The lake regions of Central Africa a picture of exploration

The lake regions of Central Africa v.2 (1860)

Burton, Richard Francis; Phillips, George Faudel; Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian Libraries)
Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts
1860
Cover of The North Pole galop

The North Pole

De Quincey, Horace; Nixon, F.; Bella C. Landauer Collection of Aeronautical Sheet Music (Smithsonian Institution. Libraries)
[s.n.]
[ca. 1880]
Cover of The U.S. Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin. A personal narrative.

The U.S. Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin

Kane, Elisha Kent
Harper & Brothers
1854
Cover of Thirty plates illustrative of natural phenomena, etc. - with a short description annexed to each plate

Thirty plates illustrative of natural phenomena, etc

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (Great Britain)
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge ...
1846
Cover of Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa - being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s government in the yea

Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa v.2 (1857)

Barth, Heinrich; Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian Libraries)
D. Appleton
1857-58
Cover of Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa - being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s government in the yea

Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa v.3 (1857)

Barth, Heinrich; Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian Libraries)
D. Appleton
1857-58
Cover of Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa - being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s government in the yea

Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa v.4 (1858)

Barth, Heinrich; Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian Libraries)
D. Appleton
1857-58
Cover of Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa - being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s government in the yea

Travels and discoveries in North and Central Africa v.5 (1858)

Barth, Heinrich; Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian Libraries)
D. Appleton
1857-58
Cover of Wild adventures round the pole, or The cruise of the Snowbird crew in the Arrandoon.

Wild adventures round the pole

Stables, Gordon
A.C. Armstrong
1885