Books and Magazines — Voyages and travels, or, Scenes in many lands — engravings

"Voyages and travels, or, Scenes in many lands" is a lavishly illustrated edition published in Boston by E. W. Walker & Co. in 1887 under the editorship of Leo de Colange (1819–?).

This monumental two-volume work (some copies issued as 2 volumes in 4 parts) measures approximately 31–32 cm. The full title reveals its content: "...with eight hundred and fifty illustrations on wood and steel of views from all parts of the world, comprising mountains, lakes, rivers, palaces, cathedrals, castles, abbeys, and ruins, with original descriptions by the best authors".

The publication was also issued in 58 original illustrated light brown paper parts . The title page for Volume 1 appeared in Part 1, while the title page for Volume 2 and other preliminary materials were in Part 30.

"Voyages and travels" was not the first edition of this work. Earlier, in 1878, it was published under the title "The picturesque world, or, Scenes in many lands" by the Boston publishing house Estes & Lauriat . An 1886 edition under the same title was dedicated to Russia and Greece — "Picturesque Russia and Greece" . In 1887, the book was reissued by Walker & Co. under its new title but with the same content.

The publication's greatest treasure is its approximately 850 illustrations, executed in various techniques :

Photogravures - 6 prints, tinted, full-page.

Engravings (etching, line) - 73 prints, full-page -31, and half-page 42, 2 images per plate.

Wood engravings approx. - 800, full-page and smaller.

The illustrations were created after originals by outstanding 19th-century artists:

Gustave Doré (1832–1883) — the famous French illustrator. 

William Henry Bartlett (1809–1854) — British artist renowned for views of distant lands.

Charles Locke Eastlake (1836–1906) — British architect and painter. 

Among the engravers working on this edition were the finest masters of their time, including the already familiar Laurent Hotelin and Alexandre Hurel (Hotelin-Hurel).

Each volume contains approximately 576 pages of text describing geographical landmarks from around the world. Volume 1 includes 23 separate illustrated plates, while Volume 2 contains 35 plates . The descriptions were penned by "the best authors" — travelers and writers of the period.

The edition was issued in various binding styles: from half-leather bindings with dark rust-colored cloth to full cloth bindings . Some copies remain partly unopened to this day, testifying to careful preservation.

Original copies of this edition are now held in major libraries worldwide: the New York Public Library, Harvard University Library, the Huntington Library, Ohio University Library, and others.

"Voyages and travels" represents a typical example of the Victorian "gift book" — a lavishly illustrated edition intended for home libraries. Such books played an important role in the education and leisure of the middle class, introducing readers to distant lands through high-quality illustrations and engaging descriptions. For modern print collectors, this edition is a valuable source of topographical illustrations from the second half of the 19th century.