The present paper proposes a comparative analysis of Georg Forster’s Reise um die Welt (German 1778–80; A Voyage Round the World, 1777) and Karl Philipp Moritz’s Reisen eines Deutschen in England im Jahr 1782 (1783; Journeys of a German in England, 1795) to show that despite their similar publication dates and readership, the paratexts of these two accounts, which take the form of images, serve different functions. Whereas Forster uses detailed drawings of everyday objects, musical instruments, and weapons to underscore the fact that he is writing about a scientific expedition, the cover image of the first edition of Moritz’s account is a drawing of the entrance to the Peak District’s Peak Cavern — an unexpected illustration for a travelogue on England, which most contemporaries would have associated mainly with London. Still, I argue that these travelogues and their illustrations stress the enlightened characters of the journeys and the travellers, respectively, although in different ways: in the case of Forster, the voyage and everything that is connected to it is presented as enlightening, not least for his readers, whereas in Moritz’s text the enlightened subject remains central.
Enlightening Report Versus Enlightened Traveller On the various functions of images in Georg Forster's Reise um die Welt (1778/80) and Karl Philipp Moritz's Reisen eines Deutschen in En-gland im Jahr 1782 (1783)
Vlasta S
2020-01-01
Abstract
The present paper proposes a comparative analysis of Georg Forster’s Reise um die Welt (German 1778–80; A Voyage Round the World, 1777) and Karl Philipp Moritz’s Reisen eines Deutschen in England im Jahr 1782 (1783; Journeys of a German in England, 1795) to show that despite their similar publication dates and readership, the paratexts of these two accounts, which take the form of images, serve different functions. Whereas Forster uses detailed drawings of everyday objects, musical instruments, and weapons to underscore the fact that he is writing about a scientific expedition, the cover image of the first edition of Moritz’s account is a drawing of the entrance to the Peak District’s Peak Cavern — an unexpected illustration for a travelogue on England, which most contemporaries would have associated mainly with London. Still, I argue that these travelogues and their illustrations stress the enlightened characters of the journeys and the travellers, respectively, although in different ways: in the case of Forster, the voyage and everything that is connected to it is presented as enlightening, not least for his readers, whereas in Moritz’s text the enlightened subject remains central.
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