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For more information see item level records. Note that volume numbers 5 and 21 are not in this collection.

This collection contains 18 manuscript volumes of Thomas Pennant's largely 'imaginary' global tours, along with 3 actual tours of Northern and Southern England. There are also two extra volumes: P/16/24, an extra-illustrated volume from the second edition of Pennant's Arctic Zoology (1792), and P/16/25, a collection of material either related to Pennant and the 'Outlines', or extracted from the other volumes.

Thomas Pennant (1726–1798) of Downing, Flintshire was a leading eighteenth-century naturalist and travel writer: his notable works of natural history include British Zoology (1766) and Synopsis of Quadrupeds (1771), whilst his published tours of Scotland and Wales have been credited with establishing the 'domestic tour' as a fashionable genre.

The 'Outlines of the Globe' was Pennant's final major work. An early conceptualisation of the project is laid out in a letter of 4 March 1786 from Pennant to Richard Bull: see Curious Travellers Editions [https://editions.curioustravellers.ac.uk/], Item ID 1053. Pennant's Literary Life (1793), p. 41, suggests composition of the non-'Northern' tours began in 1788. The end of a supposedly final volume is dated 29th January 1793, though some additions and insertions clearly post-date this period (see in particular Vol. 23).

The extant 'Outlines' collection consists of a northern tour (Vol. 1–4) from England to Kamchatka, a coastal tour around France, Spain, and Africa, then eastwards as far as Japan, 'New Guinea', and Australia (Vol. 6–19), and three volumes of British tours (Vol. 20–23). With the exception of the tour in northern England (P/16/22), itineraries generally follow the sea coasts, with some excursions inland (often following major rivers like the Loire or the Tigris).

In his Literary Life (1793), Pennant wrote that he 'grew fond of imaginary tours' in old age, and compiled these volumes from accounts in 'books ancient and modern', and from 'living travellers of the most respectable characters' – though some of the material is based on places Pennant visited himself, in particular the British tours. The volumes are lavishly illustrated with inserted prints, charts, and maps, and decorated with original artwork by (amongst others) Pennant's longtime artist Moses Griffith (1747–1819).

Versions of volumes 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 10, 22, and 23 were published between 1798 and 1801, many of them posthumously and under the direction of Pennant's son David. This included four volumes published under the general title 'Outlines of the Globe' (1798–1800), with the domestic British tours of northern England and the south coast emerging without that overarching title.

This catalogue, whilst not comprehensive, aims to give an overview of each volume's 'imaginary' tour itinerary, note likely dates of composition, and highlight any material identifiably drawn from otherwise unpublished sources.

Administrative / biographical background
His surname is derived from the Welsh ‘pen y nant’ meaning ‘head of the stream.’ On 7 March 1744 Pennant entered Queen's College, Oxford, but migrated to Oriel College in May 1748. He did not take a degree, but was made an honorary DCL by the university on 11 May 1771 in recognition of his zoological work. In 1747 he toured Cornwall, where he met the naturalist and historian the Revd Dr William Borlase. Pennant began a correspondence with scholars notably, with Carl Linnaeus, through whose influence Pennant was elected a member of the Vetenskapsakademien at Uppsala in 1757. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 21 November 1754, but had to resign in 1760 owing to insufficient funds to keep the subscription fees going. In April 1759 Pennant had married Elizabeth Falconer, daughter of James Falconer of Chester, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Five editions of British Zoology were published between 1766 and 1812. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1767, based on the success of his British Zoology. This publication was followed by Indian Geology in 1769 and Synopsis of Quadrupeds in 1771 and Genera of Birds in 1773 and between 1784 and 1787 a three volume Arctic Zoology. Pennant became a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1791. In 1769 Pennant undertook a tour of Scotland which was published in 1771 as A Tour in Scotland, 1769. He undertook a second tour in 1772. He also undertook several other tours: Northern England in 1773, of Northamptonshire and the Isle of Man in 1774, Warwickshire in 1776, Kent in 1776, and Cornwall in 1787. Several tours throughout Wales in the 1770s were brought together as 'Tours in Wales' in three volumes (1778–83). Pennant's many travels to London were published as 'A Journey from Chester to London' in 1782. The 23 manuscript volumes of imaginary travels throughout the world were in part published as his outlines of the 'Globe', published in 4 volumes between 1798 and 1800. Volumes 3 and 4 were produced by his son David. The first 2 volumes focus on Hindustan, and though works of imagination, they drew on his knowledge of India and the writings of James Rennell, explorer. The title of the third, 'The Literary Life of the Late Thomas Pennant Esq., by himself' (1793), hints at Pennant's sense of humour. It is signed only by dotted lines to indicate the death of the author. Pennant's 'Literary Life', which has several of his shorter works collected as appendices, makes clear his immense industry and the fact that his natural history writing and travelling were undertaken while fulfilling other responsibilities: he was high sheriff of Flintshire in 1761; author of pamphlets on road management and the militia laws; chairman in 1792 of the Flintshire Loyalist Association; and from 1763 improver of his own estates.