Nineteenth-Century British Perspectives on Spanish America

The sources in this volume concentrate on British investments in Latin America—both material and imaginative—including new post-independence opportunities for tourism. Excerpts from the narratives of British entrepreneurs such as Francis Bond Head, John Beaumont, and Joseph Andrews provide insight into the heady speculative and exploratory enthusiasm of those whom Mary Louise Pratt has dubbed the "capitalist vanguard" and the ensuing disappointments of many of their commercial schemes, as well as testimonies of more successful (and often exploitative) later British ventures including mining. Accounts of expeditions in pursuit of the "El Dorado" legend overlap with examples from the genre of travel narratives, including writings from the "wild women travellers" in Latin America who were able to capitalize on their tourist experiences in the literary marketplace.