Literature of travel and exploration

the long version

"Connoisseurs of travel writing and those planning a trip will delight in this new encyclopedia. Entries describe journeys, voyages, and routes; world travelers and their writings in diaries, letters, logbooks, and postcards; remarkable destinations; geographers and cartographers; and contemporary travel writers and their works. Author entries include biographical profiles. Each entry is complete with a list of references and further readings. Volume one contains two listings that are useful for browsing the three-volume set -- an alphabetical listing of entries and a thematic list of entries. Volume three has a bibliography of all works and articles referenced in the entries as well as a general index."--"The Top 20 Reference Titles of the Year," American Libraries, May 2004.