(From the 1853 Ingram, Cooke, and Co. edition.)
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST EDITION
The success which attended the publication in this Series of
Illustrated Works of A Woman's Journey round the World, has induced
the publication of the present volume on a country so little known
as Iceland, and about which so little recent information exists.
The translation has been carefully made, expressly for this Series,
from the original work published at Vienna; and the Editor has added
a great many notes, wherever they seemed necessary to elucidate the
text.
In addition to the matter which appeared in the original work, the
present volume contains a translation of a valuable Essay on
Icelandic poetry, by M. Bergmann; a translation of an Icelandic
poem, the 'Voluspa;' a brief sketch of Icelandic History; and a
translation of Schiller's ballad, 'The Diver,' which is prominently
alluded to by Madame Pfeiffer in her description of the Geysers. {1}
The Illustrations have been printed in tints, so as to make the work
uniform with the Journey round the World.
London, August 1, 1852.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
"Another journey - a journey, moreover, in regions which every one
would rather avoid than seek. This woman only undertakes these
journeys to attract attention."
"The first journey, for a woman ALONE, was certainly rather a bold
proceeding. Yet in that instance she might still have been excused.
Religious motives may perhaps have actuated her; and when this is
the case, people often go through incredible things.
