We are very pleased to publish this special issue entitled “Exploring Latin America,” which features articles on travelogues by German explorer-scientist Alexander von Humboldt, the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and Englishman traveleracademic James Bryce. Since Humboldt visited the region at the onset of the nineteenth century, Maximilian approximately a half century later, and Bryce at the start of the twentieth century, the special issue covers what historian Eric Hobsbawm has termed the “long nineteenth century” (the French Revolution to World War I), a key era in the exploration of Latin America. Furthermore, what makes this issue especially significant is that Humboldt was arguably the key figure in the nineteenth-century Latin American exploration, and the travelogues by ArchdukeMaximilian and James Bryce examined in this issue are significant but underexamined works. Hence, there is something new here, even for people familiar with these famous figures. The long nineteenth century was an especially consequential era in the history of Latin America exploration. Owing to independence, Spain and Portugal were no longer in control of the subcontinent. This opened the floodgates, as foreigners from numerous countries visited and wrote about the region. Furthermore, technological developments, especially the steamship, made travel across the sea easier (than in the age of the sail), thereby encouraging travel, exploration, and even tourism. With the decline of the Iberians’ power in the region, foreign governments (and their diplomatic representatives) and business groups were especially interested in new economic and geopolitical opportunities. (Additionally, newly formed Latin American nations sent out their own exploration expeditions, including land survey initiatives,

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探索拉丁美洲特刊：亚历山大·冯·洪堡、马克西米利安大公和詹姆斯·布莱斯的游记

我们很高兴出版这本题为“探索拉丁美洲”的特刊，其中收录了德国探险家兼科学家亚历山大·冯·洪堡、奥地利大公斐迪南·马克西米利安和英国旅行学者詹姆斯·布莱斯的游记文章。由于洪堡在 19 世纪初访问了该地区，大约半个世纪后马克西米利安访问了该地区，并在 20 世纪初访问了布莱斯，特刊涵盖了历史学家埃里克霍布斯鲍姆所说的“漫长的 19 世纪”（法国大革命）到第一次世界大战），这是拉丁美洲探索的关键时期。此外，使这个问题特别重要的是，洪堡可以说是 19 世纪拉丁美洲探险的关键人物，本期研究的马克西米利安大公和詹姆斯·布莱斯的游记是重要但未充分研究的作品。因此，即使对于熟悉这些著名人物的人来说，这里也有一些新的东西。漫长的 19 世纪是拉丁美洲勘探史上一个特别重要的时代。由于独立，西班牙和葡萄牙不再控制次大陆。这打开了闸门，来自许多国家的外国人访问并撰写了有关该地区的文章。此外，技术的发展，尤其是轮船，使穿越海洋的旅行变得更加容易（比航行时代更容易），从而鼓励旅行、探索甚至旅游业。随着伊比利亚人在该地区的势力下降，外国政府（及其外交代表）和商业团体对新的经济和地缘政治机会特别感兴趣。（此外，新成立的拉丁美洲国家也派出了自己的探险队，包括土地调查计划，