Rudolf Erich Raspe was a German librarian, writer, and scientist, called by his biographer John Patrick Carswell a "rogue". He is best known for his collection of tall tales The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, also known as Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, originally a satirical work with political aims.
Rudolf Erich Raspe
Picture from an old Dutch edition of Münchhausen (R. E. Raspe, De verrezen Gulliver. Amsterdam, 1827.)
A Voyage Round the World is Georg Forster's report on the second voyage of the British explorer James Cook. During the preparations for Cook's voyage, the expedition's naturalist Joseph Banks had withdrawn his participation, and Georg's father, Johann Reinhold Forster, had taken his place at very short notice, with his seventeen-year-old son as his assistant. They sailed on HMS Resolution with Cook, accompanied by HMS Adventure under Tobias Furneaux. On the voyage, they circumnavigated the world, crossed the Antarctic Circle and sailed as far south as 71° 10′, discovered several Pacific islands, encountered diverse cultures and described many species of plants and animals.
Title page from the first edition of A Voyage Round the World
Portrait of Dr Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster, by John Francis Rigaud, London c. 1780. The plant in the brim of the elder Forster's hat is a Forstera sedifolia and the bird in his hand is a New Zealand bellbird, locating the scene in New Zealand. However, the painting has been commonly called "Reinhold and George Forster at Tahiti" or similar. In 1781, it was exhibited at the Royal Academy under the title Portrait of Dr. Foster and his Son on the island of Otaheite.
Georg Forster's Chart of the Southern Hemisphere, engraved by William Whitchurch, March 1777
A View of the Cape of Good Hope, Taken on the Spot, from on Board the Resolution, painting by William Hodges, 1772
