Travelogues, or travel essays, comprise the oldest, and one of the most interesting, subgenres of travel literature. Because they offer a very personal perspective on travel in a particular locale, not only do such narratives often record information that local inhabitants may not deem worthy of notice, but they also offer clues to the values, interests and concerns of their authors.
Because people travel for lots of different reasons, every narrative of a particular time and place is likely to offer a quite different perspective. A diplomat recounting his political successes in Shanghai, for example, is not likely to pen the same account of a visit to that city that would be penned by someone escaping political persecution in Myanmar. A Christian businessman visiting Mecca is not likely to pen the same sort of travelogue that would be penned by an Islamic businessman visiting the same city.
These differing perspectives are precisely what attracts so many collectors to the travelogue--just think of the enormous private library one can build simply by focusing on the travelogues that have been penned about visits to a particular country...
...or travel narratives that focus on a particular type of transportation...
...or travelogues by authors that are famous for other accomplishments:
Just remember: if you think "outside the box" when creating your private library, be it about Travel or any other subject, you likely will be rewarded with books that other collectors have ignored, and consequently will have to pay much less for the privilege of owning such books....
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