Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835 and is far better known by his pen name; Mark Twain. An American author and humorist of the first order he is perhaps most famous for his novels, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, written in 1876, and its sequel, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, written in 1885 and often described with that mythic line - "the Great American Novel." Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the backdrop for these great novels. Apprenticed to a printer he also worked as a typesetter but eventually became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Later, heading west with his brother, Orion to make his fortune he failed at gold mining and instead turned to journalism and found his true calling as a writer of humorous stories. His wit and humour sparkle from every page, his craft evident with every phase and punctured target. Of course as a master of his craft his observations on people, situations and locations create a fabric of great texture and detail and this reflects across short stories, novels and his travel writings. Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return in 1910. Here we present A Tramp Abroad.

Mark Twain - A Tramp Abroad: “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

Travel

TWAIN,MARK

Travel Writing

Wanderlust

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835 and is far better known by his pen name; Mark Twain. An American author and humorist of the first order he is perhaps most famous for his novels, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, written in 1876, and its sequel, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, written in 1885 and often described with that mythic line - "the Great American Novel." Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the backdrop for these great novels. Apprenticed to a printer he also worked as a typesetter but eventually became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Later, heading west with his brother, Orion to make his fortune he failed at gold mining and instead turned to journalism and found his true calling as a writer of humorous stories. His wit and humour sparkle from every page, his craft evident with every phase and punctured target. Of course as a master of his craft his observations on people, situations and locations create a fabric of great texture and detail and this reflects across short stories, novels and his travel writings. Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return in 1910. Here we present Following The Equator.

Mark Twain - Following The Equator: “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”

Mark Twain - Life on the Mississippi: “If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.”

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835 and is far better known by his pen name; Mark Twain. An American author and humorist of the first order he is perhaps most famous for his novels, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, written in 1876, and its sequel, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, written in 1885 and often described with that mythic line - "the Great American Novel." Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the backdrop for these great novels. Apprenticed to a printer he also worked as a typesetter but eventually became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Later, heading west with his brother, Orion to make his fortune he failed at gold mining and instead turned to journalism and found his true calling as a writer of humorous stories. His wit and humour sparkle from every page, his craft evident with every phase and punctured target. Of course as a master of his craft his observations on people, situations and locations create a fabric of great texture and detail and this reflects across short stories, novels and his travel writings. Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return in 1910. Here we present Roughing it.

Mark Twain - Roughing It: “I did not attend his funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.”

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born in 1835 and is far better known by his pen name; Mark Twain.  An American author and humorist of the first order he is perhaps most famous for his novels, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, written in 1876, and its sequel, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn, written in 1885 and often described with that mythic line - "the Great American Novel."  Twain grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, which would later provide the backdrop for these great novels. Apprenticed to a printer he also worked as a typesetter but eventually became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Later, heading west with his brother, Orion to make his fortune he failed at gold mining and instead turned to journalism and found his true calling as a writer of humorous stories.  His wit and humour sparkle from every page, his craft evident with every phase and punctured target. Of course as a master of his craft his observations on people, situations and locations create a fabric of great texture and detail and this reflects across short stories, novels and his travel writings.   Twain was born during a visit by Halley's Comet, and predicted that he would "go out with it" as well. He died the day following the comet's subsequent return in 1910. Here we present The Innocents Abroad.

Mark Twain - The Innocents Abroad: “God created war so that Americans would learn geography.”

Henry James was born on 15 April 1843 and is regarded as one of the great literary figures of 19th Century writing. Born in New York, he moved between there and Europe, being tutored in Geneva, London, Paris, Bologna, and Bonn. At the age of 19 he briefly attended Harvard Law School, but preferred reading literature to studying law and settled the next year in England. As well as an outstanding author he was also a dramatist, travel writer and most passionately, a literary critic. He advocated that all writers should be allowed the greatest possible freedom in presenting their view of the world. Here, he shows his skill as a travel writer. He became a British subject in 1915, a year before his death on 28th February 1916.

Henry James - Italian Hours: "The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have."

JAMES,HENRY

John Muir was born in Scotland on April 21st, 1838. His Father wanted his children to have a stricter Religious upbringing and therefore moved the family to the United States. John Muir is perhaps known today as the most pre-eminent naturalist and advocate for the preservation of much of the western United States. Today being an environmentalist is laudable but in Muir’s days the country was there to be exploited but by hard work and lobbying Muir did much to turn such beautiful areas as Yosemite into protected National Parks. His writing is not only an invaluable guidebook to these unspoilt places but also a hymn to their spirituality. As a keen scientific mind he helped to push the understanding of nature forward by observing and writing upon the glaciers and their actions in eroding and shaping much of the land. Muir helped to also create The Sierra Club, which he led for many years, on projects to preserve these and other areas of outstanding natural beauty. He was equally adept at persuading politicians, from Presidents to local State officials, and the common man to come together in the defence of Nature.

John Muir - The Story of My Boyhood and Youth: “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

MUIR, JOHN

John Muir was born in Scotland on April 21st, 1838. His Father wanted his children to have a stricter Religious upbringing and therefore moved the family to the United States. John Muir is perhaps known today as the most pre-eminent naturalist and advocate for the preservation of much of the western United States. Today being an environmentalist is laudable but in Muir’s days the country was there to be exploited but by hard work and lobbying Muir did much to turn such beautiful areas as Yosemite into protected National Parks. His writing is not only an invaluable guidebook to these unspoilt places but also a hymn to their spirituality. As a keen scientific mind he helped to push the understanding of nature forward by observing and writing upon the glaciers and their actions in eroding and shaping much of the land. Muir helped to also create The Sierra Club, which he led for many years, on projects to preserve these and other areas of outstanding natural beauty. He was equally adept at persuading politicians, from Presidents to local State officials, and the common man to come together in the defence of Nature.

John Muir - The Yosemite: “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”

Robert Edwin Peary, Sr. was born on May 6, 1856 in Cresson, Pennsylvania.  The early death of his father when Peary was 3 dictated that he and his mother moved to Portland, Maine.  His senior education took place at Bowdon College and he graduated in 1877 with a Civil Engineering degree.  For Peary his overriding ambition became the North Pole.  It was a dream that had also obsessed many others.  His first exploration attempt was Greenland in 1886.  He managed just 100 miles before turning back.  In 1891 he broke his leg but the recuperation enabled him to more clearly define how to achieve his ambition.  Inuit survival techniques were now researched and this gave him valuable insight.  By 1892 he had established that Greenland was an island.  In his 1898–1902 expedition, he claimed an 1899 visual discovery of "Jesup Land" west of Ellesmere. Peary also achieved a "farthest north" for the western hemisphere in 1902 north of Canada's Ellesmere Island.  Peary's next expedition was supported by a $50,000 gift. Peary used the money for a new ship. The SS Roosevelt battled its way through the ice between Greenland and Ellesmere Island, establishing an American hemisphere "farthest north by ship." The 1906 "Peary System" dogsled drive for the pole across the rough sea ice of the Arctic Ocean started from the north tip of Ellesmere at 83° north latitude. The parties made well under 10 miles (16 km) a day until they became separated by a storm.  Peary was without a companion sufficiently trained in navigation to verify his account from that point northward. With insufficient food, and with uncertainty about whether he could negotiate the ice between him and land, he made the best possible dash and barely escaped with his life off the melting ice. On April 20, he was no further north than 86°30' latitude. He claimed the next day to have achieved a Farthest North world record at 87°06' and returned to 86°30' without camping, an implied trip of at least 72 nautical miles (133 km) between sleeping, even assuming direct travel with no detours.  There is little doubt that although greatly honoured for his expeditions that Peary was rather elastic with the truth.  For his final assault on the Pole, Peary and 23 men, including Ross Gilmore Marvin, set off from New York City on July 6, 1908 aboard the S.S. Roosevelt under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett. They wintered near Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island, and from Ellesmere departed for the pole on February 28 – March 1, 1909.  This book relates that attempt on the North Pole.  Subsequent to the attempt Peary was promoted to the rank of captain in the Navy on October 20, 1910. By his lobbying, Peary was eventually recognized by Congress to have "attained" the pole (not "discoverer" in deference to 1908 North Pole claimant Frederick Cook's supporters), Peary was given the Thanks of Congress by a special act of March 3, 1911. By a special act of Congress on March 30, 1911, Peary was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps retroactive to April 6, 1909, and retired the same day.  In early 1916, Peary became chairman of the National Aerial Coast Patrol Commission. It advocated the use of aircraft in detecting warships and submarines off the U.S. coast. Peary used his celebrity to promote the use of military and naval aviation, which led directly to the formation of Naval Reserve aerial coastal patrol units during the First World War.  At the close of the First World War, Peary proposed a system of eight air mail routes, which became the genesis of the U.S. Postal Service's air mail system.  Admiral Robert Edwin Peary died in Washington, D.C. on February 20, 1920. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Robert E. Peary - The North Pole: Its Discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary Arctic Club

Biographies & Memoirs

Peary, Robert E.

Travelers & Explorers

C.E. Montague - The Right Place

Montague, C.E.

Classics

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