Public-domain ebook
Language: en5,542 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Travel Writing
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #25371.
Bayard Taylor’s Northern Travel is a nineteenth‑century travelogue that sets out to record the visual and atmospheric impressions of Sweden, Denmark and Lapland rather than to catalogue statistics or political facts. The opening pages make his purpose clear: he will sketch people and scenery, colour his drawings with the “tints of the originals,” and rely on photographs instead of charts. From a winter departure on the Baltic Sea, the narrative proceeds chapter by chapter through icy voyages, sled rides, reindeer treks and encounters with local customs, each episode anchored in the author’s own observations of weather, landscape and the everyday lives of the inhabitants he meets.
The work reads in a straightforward, descriptive voice typical of mid‑Victorian travel literature, blending earnest reportage with occasional wry commentary. Taylor’s prose is detailed yet accessible, offering a vivid picture of Arctic life for readers who enjoy historic travel writing, natural‑history observation, or a panoramic glimpse of Scandinavian culture before the age of modern tourism. Those with an interest in the era’s exploratory spirit and its blend of personal narrative and ethnographic note will find the book engaging.
The opening · free to read
PREFACE.
This book requires no further words of introduction than those with which I have prefaced former volumes--that my object in travel is neither scientific, statistical, nor politico-economical; but simply artistic, pictorial,--if possible, panoramic. I have attempted to draw, with a hand which, I hope, has acquired a little steadiness from long practice, the people and the scenery of Northern Europe, to colour my sketches with the tints of the originals, and to invest each one with its native and characteristic atmosphere. In order to do this, I have adopted, as in other countries, a simple rule: to live, as near as possible, the life of the people among whom I travel. The history of Sweden and Norway, their forms of Government, commerce, productive industry, political condition, geology, botany, and agriculture, can be found in other works, and I have only touched upon such subjects where it was necessary to give completeness to my pictures. I have endeavoured to give photographs, instead of diagrams, or tables of figures; and desire only that the untravelled reader, who is interested in the countries I visit, may find that he is able to see them by the aid of my eyes.
BAYARD TAYLOR.
LONDON: November, 1857.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
