Geographical Knowledge

Chapter 2 explores how late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British geographical works structure and present geographical knowledge. The books may seem disorganized and haphazard to modern eyes, but their contents and procedures are framed by classical and early modern precedents. The influence of Bernhard Varenius is key, especially his specification of ‘celestial’, ‘terrestrial’, and ‘human’ geography. These different emphases provide variant ways to understand space, premised respectively on universal mathematical laws, observation of a tangible physical world, and the vicissitudes of human activity and perception. The chapter shows how the resulting questions about the nature and limits of knowledge affect geographical works’ comprehension of Europe.