From the vast reaches of outer space to the depths of the Mariana Trench, the Library’s collections chronicle some of the Western world’s greatest voyages of discovery and exploration, often yearslong epics that illuminated the mysteries of the world and of ourselves. These are journeys that crossed time and space, shattering the old realms of myth and superstition and revealing the known world, a place of maps and charts and taxonomic tables. Giants and dragons did not exist, it turned out, but a whole new universe filled with strange and wonderful things did. “Ocian in view!” an ecstatic William Clark wrote in his journal on Nov. 7, 1805. He and Meriwether Lewis’ expedition thought they had just sighted the Pacific Ocean after trekking westward for 18 months from St. Louis — with significant help from Native Americans. The blue waters (of what turned out to be the Columbia River estuary) seemed to promise a sort of glimmering paradise: “O! the joy!” They reached the Pacific about a week later, their expedition a legendary success. The Library has thousands upon thousands of these tales of exploration, survival and return — like Capt. William Bligh’s 4,000-mile open-boat journey to safety after being…
Creative
Into the unknown: Tales of exploration and survival
Source: Library of Congress Blogs — US Government, Public Domain