A companion publication to Islandia, with sections of Wright's lengthy unpublished history of his fictional land, maps, and appendices, plus a bibliography of Islandian histories. A bit hard to find, these days, but worth getting if you can, for the Islandian fan. ( )

The complete title goes a little something like this:

An Introduction to Islandia: Its History, Customs, Laws, Language, and Geography as Prepared by Basil Davenport, from Islandia: History and Description, by Jean Perrier, First French Consul to Islandia, and Translated by John Lang, First American Consul. With maps drawn by John Lang.

An Introduction to Islandia originally was the introduction to the 1942 publication of Austin Tappan Wright's outstanding novel Islandia. Primarily, it is a summary of Wright's unpublished "History of Islandia", an immense and detailed work. (Which I really hope I can get my hands on, one day!) Also included are maps and census materials, as well as an annotated bibliography, from the actual "History of Islandia."

It's not a very long book, and I had some difficulty getting a hold of it, but I really enjoyed it when I finally did. . . of course, I am an Islandian fanatic.

Experiments in Reading ( )