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  Venturing Out
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  Terra Australis
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  Capturing Nature

Exploration

Books reflect our desire to know the world – to explore it, to classify it, and to make sense of it. From the earliest accounts of European explorations to finely detailed drawings of exotic flora and fauna, books offer a tantalising glimpse of other worlds.

When explorers and other travellers returned from venturing abroad, they brought with them tales of distant and unknown lands. Their journals, drawings and the information in ships’ logs were used by printers and publishers to create maps and books that described a world beyond the known borders of the time.

By the 18th century natural historians, botanists and artists were systematically recording their observations of Terra Australis and other new lands. Their illustrations, in particular, captured nature in a way that would communicate their discoveries to diverse audiences.

Well before the age of jet travel and mass media, books played a crucial role in making the world available to many, enabling new ideas and information to be shared across the globe.