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26 Mobile Culture Studies. The Journal 6 2o20
(Travel)Sandra
Vlasta | Enlightening report versus enlightened traveller
plants, and animals would attract more readers than one with text alone (see Sherman 2002:
30â31). Furthermore, they knew that their readers would expect illustrations, not least as evi-
dence of their scientific findings (see Walchester 2019: 128). From the beginning, the allocation
of different objects and motifs to be painted by Hodges on the one hand and by the Forsters on
the other ensured that there would be various sets of paintings and drawings that could be used
in different ways. Clearly, both the initiators and the principal executors of the expedition had
already had in mind the various ways in which the voyage could be exploited, both financially
and with a view to possible later gains and personal promotions. In fact, the disagreements
outlined above were largely the result of the partiesâ awareness of this aspect of the expedition.
Insofar as Johann Reinhold Forster was denied the right to write his account of the voyage,
only one option remained open to the Forsters, who desperately needed money and had coun-
ted on being able to profit from the journey: Georg would have to write the travelogue. This
was a race against time, however, as in order to secure interested readers, Forsterâs account
would have to be ready prior to the publication of Cookâs. Georg Forster worked fast and
diligently and eventually succeeded in publishing the account six weeks prior to the release of
Captain Cookâs. Still, as the latter had already been advertised, and as its famous author and
numerous illustrations attracted more readers, Georg Forster sold far fewer copies than Cook.
He had been working in parallel on a German translation, however, the first volume of which
appeared a year later, in 1778, and enjoyed greater commercial success. Unlike the English title,
the German title (Johann Reinhold Forsterâs Reise um die Welt [âŠ] beschrieben und her-
ausgegeben von dessen Sohn und ReisegefĂ€hrten Georg Forster) puts Georgâs father at centre
stage. This is understandable, as at the time the naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster was well
known in Germany, whereas his young son
became popular only after the publication of
Reise um die Welt.
Unlike the English version, the German
travelogue contains illustrations: twelve cop-
per engravings, three of which depict New
Zealand plants, one a plant from Tahiti, and
the rest weapons and, mainly, handicraft
(decorations, tools, accessories such as hats
and fans, musical instruments), as can be
seen in Images 1â3.
These illustrations are an integral part of
the travelogue in the sense that Forster also
refers to them in the text. The text and the
illustrations are carefully matched â the
instructions for where each of the illustrati-
ons should be placed in the book are printed
on each of the sketches (these were printed
separately and later included in the bound
volume). On the page with the image of the
New Zealand spruce tree, for instance, the
Image 1: âdie Neu-SeelĂ€ndische ThĂ©e-Myrtheâ
[New Zealand tea myrtle]
(Forster 1778: opposite p. 97)
>mcs_lab>
Mobile Culture Studies, Band 2/2020
The Journal
- Titel
- >mcs_lab>
- Untertitel
- Mobile Culture Studies
- Band
- 2/2020
- Herausgeber
- Karl Franzens University Graz
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- deutsch, englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 270
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften Mobile Culture Studies The Journal