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19th Century Iceland on the iPad
British Library and Frankfurt Book Fair Bring Fabulous Iceland to the iPad. Special 19th Century curated collection is a digital first at the 2011 Fair.
As part of the celebration at the world‘s largest book event, the British Library has developed a „Fabulous Iceland“ feature as part of their larger British Library 19th Century Historical Collection iPad App. The 42 titles in the collection are the first digital books featured at a Country of Honor exhibit and some are enhanced with insights from Barbara Hawes, the British Library‘s Curator for Scandinavian Studies.
“By the late 18th century there had been a number of scientific expeditions to Iceland by the English,” says Hawes, “but it wasn't until the 19th century that advances in sea travel made individual ‘tourist' travel more common. That is when we begin to see a steady increase in books in English describing the landscape and literature of Iceland. These books, many with beautiful illustrations, provide a rich source of information about the history, society and natural phenomena of Iceland, and the fascination these held for the enthusiastic travelers who ventured there,” Hawes adds.
Some of the curated titles include Travels in the Island of Iceland, during the Summer of 1810 by George Steuart Mackenzie (1810), Icelandic Pictures by Frederick W.W. Howell (1893) and A Pilgrimage to the Saga-Steads of Iceland by W.G. Collingwood and Jón Stefánsson (1899).
In addition to the in-App feature for online readers, iPads will also be on display to enable fair visitors to browse and enjoy the works. The Fabulous Iceland feature will be available free to anyone who downloads the British Library 19th Century Historical Collection app.
The British Library 19th Century Historical Collection app, which provides access to over 45,000 antiquarian works from the British Library‘s archives, now has more than 200,000 online readers and expands the digital reach of the Country of Honour exhibit significantly during the book fair.
To download the Fabulous Iceland app, click here.