People have been attracted to the lure of distant, exotic places throughout the ages, and over the centuries a vast store of legends and lore relating to travel have grown up. This encyclopedia represents a complilation of travel legends and lore of civilizations throughout the world. Approximately 200 A-Z entries survey the persons, animals, events, places, and institutions relating to travel legends from antiquity to 1900. The text focuses on journeys for the puposes of trade, diplomacy, religion, or pleasure, rather than exploration and discovery. Some of the places, people and animals may have been mythological, but travellers at the time believed they truly existed. The entries include: Atlantis; Caravans; Elysian Fields; Gerald of Wales; Isle of Women; Llama; Norse Voyages; Sea Monsters; Unicorns; and Zonal Theory of Climate.
