Europe SEEN WITH Knapsack and Staff.
“A poor boy, with no literary reputation, he sets out to traverse the countries of Europe on foot. It was the beginning of an extraordinary career as a writer, traveler and lecturer. Others have since followed in his footsteps, but none has ever been able to surpass Bayard Taylor in originality of observation, in perspicacity of style, or variety of experiences. It is Europe brought to our own doors.”—Journal and Messenger, Cincinnati, Ohio.
“A book well worth reprinting in attractive but inexpensive style. More than any other, it laid the foundation of Bayard Taylor’s reputation as a traveller and writer. These chapters are written in a style of charming naïveté and freshness, giving the reader not the hackneyed views of an experienced and often cynical traveller, but the fresh enthusiasm of a generous, eager youth, visiting for the first time the countries of which he had long dreamed. In this respect this earlier book possesses charms which are denied the later volumes by the same author. One of the incidental but very real advantages of this book is to show on what a very small capital (Bayard Taylor started with only $140), a resolute, plucky American youth can spend two years in foreign travel, if he is willing to undergo some privations and hardships. It is a narrative of grit, pluck and endurance as well as of foreign travel. What was done in 1844 can be done in 1889 if one is equipped with the same fortitude and courage.”—Golden Rule, Boston, Mass.