LAUSR

We are very pleased to publish this special issue entitled “Exploring Latin America,” which features articles on travelogues by German explorer-scientist Alexander von Humboldt, the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and Englishman traveleracademic James Bryce. Since Humboldt visited the region at the onset of the nineteenth century, Maximilian approximately a half century later, and Bryce at the start of the twentieth century, the special issue covers what historian Eric Hobsbawm has termed the “long nineteenth century” (the French Revolution to World War I), a key era in the exploration of Latin America. Furthermore, what makes this issue especially significant is that Humboldt was arguably the key figure in the nineteenth-century Latin American exploration, and the travelogues by ArchdukeMaximilian and James Bryce examined in this issue are significant but underexamined works. Hence, there is something new here, even for people familiar with these famous figures. The long nineteenth century was an especially consequential era in the history of Latin America exploration. Owing to independence, Spain and Portugal were no longer in control of the subcontinent. This opened the floodgates, as foreigners from numerous countries visited and wrote about the region. Furthermore, technological developments, especially the steamship, made travel across the sea easier (than in the age of the sail), thereby encouraging travel, exploration, and even tourism. With the decline of the Iberians’ power in the region, foreign governments (and their diplomatic representatives) and business groups were especially interested in new economic and geopolitical opportunities. (Additionally, newly formed Latin American nations sent out their own exploration expeditions, including land survey initiatives,