Travelogues of Latin America are published accounts describing Latin America and the Caribbean by foreign travelers from early Iberian conquest to the early 20th century.
[1][2] The Spanish and Portuguese monarchs' efforts to restrict non-Iberian's access to Latin America during the colonial era mean that most of the works published before 1800 were by authorized Spanish or Portuguese chroniclers, or European Catholic missionaries.
[3] However, the popularity of Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt's twenty-one volume account of his travels in Latin America marked a turning point.
Starting in the 1820s, most independent Latin American governments welcomed increased exchanges with European visitors, increasing the number of German, British, French, and U.S. travelogues published.
[6] While scholars including Marjorie Agosín, June E. Hahner, and Miguel A. Cabañas have noted that these works replicate many of the biases of their authors, they are an important sources in the study of Latin American history.