Richard Henry Major

British geographer and map librarian (1818–1891)

In the history of exploration, Richard Henry Major is one of the names that keeps returning.

The record lists Richard Henry Major as British geographer and map librarian (1818–1891).

Richard Henry Major was born at Shoreditch in 1818. His recorded nationality is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Enlightenment expeditions carried naturalists and instruments; the Pacific was charted with chronometers and the intention of measuring, not merely claiming.

He is recorded as geographer, cartographer and writer.

Distance was the hardest problem of the pre-modern world, and it was solved by people willing to risk it.

Richard Henry Major died in 1891, aged 73. The routes and charts outlived the journey, which is how exploration is actually measured.

Achievements

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