The Savant and the Engineer: Exploration Personnel in the Narbrough and Anson Voyage Accounts

Abstract

Recent reassessments of the history of exploration have reflected on the terms “exploration” and “explorer.” While scholars identify the explorer as a nineteenth-century cultural phenomenon shaped in part by the production process of books and serialized media, this article argues that the discussion as to who was qualified to serve on long distance expeditions has earlier roots. Via case studies of two South Seas travel accounts, it shows how the publication of Pacific voyage accounts shifted and gave rise to savants and engineers emerging as two ideal types of exploration personnel.