“One aim of the Enlightenment period was “to observe everything” on a journey, and Uno von Troil was one of many young scholars who followed these ideas. He seems to have had a general interest in natural history, humanitarian matters and local traditions as well as specialist knowledge in languages, history, philosophy and theology.

His initial period abroad – 1770 to 1772 – included visits and regular attendance on lectures at several universities as well as network-building with learned men, particularly in Göttingen. At the arrival in France, he came in contact with the Enlightenment philosophers Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and Denis Diderot (1713-1784) among others in Paris. The glimpse into the world of these well-known men – more than thirty years his senior – may have influenced him in many ways. To have met Diderot for instance, at the time for his ongoing editing of the Encyclopédie must have been an inspiration for a young man like von Troil, who in the coming year got the possibility to amass facts from a wide range of subjects on the Iceland journey – including weaving, local clothes as well as trade in wool and eiderdown. In the smaller format, it almost became like an encyclopaedia of Icelandic traditions.

It is noticeable too, that von Troil had no prior knowledge of the planned Iceland journey when arriving in London 1772, for the reason that Joseph Banks (1743-1820) had changed his travelling arrangements in short notice. James Cook (1728-1779) actually departed without him and found other botanists to explore the flora and fauna on his second voyage, which set sail in July 1772 – that is to say in the same month as the Iceland journey. Uno von Troil came to accompany the twelve-man crew – primarily invited due to his interest in the Icelandic language – on an expedition led by the naturalist Joseph Banks.” (Linda Hall Library)

The present work was shortly after publication translated into several other languages: German (1779); English (Letters on Iceland, 1780-83); French (1781) and Dutch (1784).

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