During the 17th-18th centuries, travel literature was an increasingly popular and sought-after literary genre. On the other hand, the French language, as a medium of international communication, offered a very good launching pad to this type of literature. Diplomats, ambitious explorers and merchants, Christian missionaries, scientists, romantic adventurers in search of the ancient past or simply fanciful idealists found in the writing of travel memoirs, in the description of new peoples and places, and in the depiction of imaginary lands, both solace and entertainment, as well as knowledge and encouragement to build better societies.
In addition to geographical discoveries, which are partly the subject of this exhibition, and the so-called Scientific Revolution of the 17th century, travel literature also had a profound educational side throughout the Modern Age. What exactly did it teach Europeans three centuries ago? Apart from new customs, morals, beliefs, and so on, travelling allowed Europeans to see and know themselves better.
Samuel von Brukenthal, himself a traveller through the cities of Central Europe (Jena, Halle, Vienna, and others), added to his library almost 100 French travel books and books on similar themes. From Constantinople and Alexandria to Beijing and the Japanese Archipelago, across exotic islands in the Atlantic Ocean, through both Americas back to the Europe of the great cathedrals and monuments of Greco-Roman antiquity, the French travel books he had in his library offer us itineraries as real and imaginary as the eyes can see.
And because there was more to a journey than the physical, visitors to the exhibition will be able to see, in addition to the selection of actual travel books, some novels in which itineraries were made with the power of imagination. I'm referring here to fantasy and even sci-fi novels popular in the 18th century, such as Klimius's Journey to the Underworld or the particularly wise Travels of Cyrus.