Ludvig Holberg

Above engraving by: Johann Benjamin Brühl,

'The Subterranean Voyage of Nicolas Klim' (Nicolai Klimii Iter subterraneum novam) 1741 by Ludvig Holberg (1684-1754). This book tells the story of the eponymous Niels Klim, a Norwegian academic who accidentally falls into the centre of the Earth, has various adventures there, and eventually reemerges to the surface. During his travels he spends time with  tree-people and trend-obsessed monkey-people, and sees the various civilisations that make up the Mezendorican Empire, where each job is held by a specific type of animal. I love these roaming tree people illustrations from different versions of this book.