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Travels in the Island of Iceland, during the Summer of...

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:44:08 -0400

Travels in the Island of Iceland, during the Summer of 1810

George Steuart Mackenzie (Edinburgh, 1811)

George Steuart Mackenzie, a mineralogist and member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, was drawn to Iceland by the extraordinary natural phenomena. He saw in Iceland ‘…a country which everywhere presents objects to fill the scientific mind with astonishment and delight’. He was accompanied on his journey by two companions, Henry Holland and Richard Bright and all three contributed to the content of the book.

Mackenzie wrote a journal of their travels with particular detail on the mineralogy, some of which is technical and academic in style, some which demonstrates an infectious enthusiasm for his subject. The sulphur mountains inspire awe: ‘..quite beyond my power to offer such a description of this extraordinary place, as to convey adequate ideas of its wonders, or its terrors…’ On seeing the geysers he talks stirringly of ‘the mingled raptures of wonder, admiration and terror, with which our breasts were filled’ and believes them ‘among the greatest wonders of the world’. Nor is he too engrossed in his own interests to ignore the challenges that face the people he meets. He writes movingly of the harsh conditions in which many Icelanders live.

Holland wrote chapters on history and literature, on government and religion, and Bright an account of the zoology and botany of Iceland. The combined contributions of all three writers give a very detailed picture of Iceland at the beginning of the 19^th century. It is a rich source of historical, social and scientific data.

Fabulous Iceland Feature

A Pilgramage to the Saga-Steads of Iceland W.G. Collingwood...

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:39:00 -0400

A Pilgramage to the Saga-Steads of Iceland

W.G. Collingwood & Jon Seefansson (Ulverston, 1899)

With growing interest in England in the saga literature of Iceland, the aim of this publication was to be ‘a picture book to illustrate the sagas of Iceland… intended to supply the background of scenery which the ancient dramatic style takes for granted’. William Gershom Collingwood, a writer, academic and artist, and Jón Stefánsson, a teacher of Nordic literature in London, spent two months in 1897 travelling around Iceland and sketching scenes where events from the sagas were supposed to have taken place. ‘While one of us drew, the other made notes … with the local saga always in hand.’

The result is a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated guide, featuring over 150 illustrations, some in black and white, some coloured plates, as well as a map showing where particular views where sketched. There is a useful index too, of landmarks and characters, which means it also acts a reference tool for the reader who just wants to look up certain aspects rather than read it cover to cover. It translates and explains Icelandic words and links them to English words with the same etymology, as well as giving guidance on pronounciation. There are quotes from the sagas and in places, some re-telling of the stories.

Although Collingwood states that the book is not intended as a description of their travels, there are times when he captures particular moments, in a style more poetic than factual, and which evoke their personal experiences: ‘We saw the place on a showery day, when cloud-rack brushed the sky-line of the crags, and passing gleams of sunshine made the buttercups of the meadow brighter than gold…’

In conclusion, Collingwood asks, ‘was it worthwhile, our pilgrimage to the Saga-steads? We have missed, we must confess, nearly all that attracts the tourist’. To which there can only really be one answer: ‘We have seen the homes of the heroes… It is as if a curtain had gone suddenly up: as if our eyes were opened, at last, to the glory of the North’.

Fabulous Iceland Feature

A Girl’s Ride in Iceland Mrs. Alec Tweedie (London,...

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:30:00 -0400

A Girl’s Ride in Iceland

Mrs. Alec Tweedie (London, 1894)

Mrs Alec Tweedie, one of the first British women to explore Iceland, writes of how her 25 day trip would ‘ .. remain engraven on my mind asone of the most agreeable experiences of my life…’. Her lively and informative account paints a vivid picture of the landscape, the people and their customs.

She undertook the journey with her brother and three friends, and from the start adopted a very no-nonsense approach: “it is no use going to Iceland, or any other out-of-the-way place if one cannot cheerfully endure the absence of accustomed luxuries”. They travelled by boat from Akuyreyri to Reykavík and for the most part the party slept and took their meals aboard, stopping off at various points for excursions inland. The longest of these excursions was a four-day trip to the geysers. As all journeys inland were taken by pony, and finding that no ladies’ side-saddles were available, she had to take the decision to ride astride (observing that ‘necessity gives courage to emergencies’), a fact much commented on back in England, and described by one reviewer of her book as ‘a remarkable feat’!

Her descriptions of the natural landscape are enthusiastic. She experienced the geysers as ‘one of the greatest marvels of nature’ and describes the view of Thingvalla lake ‘like going out of a desert into fairyland’. She enjoys the rich flora and the many (over 90) species of birds that she sees, and comments on the salmon fishing as being ‘some of the finest in the world’. She was also a keen observer of the people around her and the way they made their livelihoods. ‘On the hay crop so very much depends for when that fails, ponies die, sheep and cattle have to be killed …Hay is therefore looked upon as a treasure to its possessor’. She understood that conditions on the island could be hard, witnessing at first hand the departure of around forty emigrants bound for Manitoba and Winnipeg.

Her affection for the Icelandic people is clear, writing that although they ‘are on first acquaintance with strangers somewhat reserved… this reserve soon wears off and their hospitality is unbounded’. She notes too that they are a ‘wonderfully well-educated people’ and muses that ‘might not some of the hours so fruitlessly spent in misinterpreting Horace be more fitly devoted to the classics of Northern Europe’.

Fabulous Iceland Feature

The Rose and the Ring…Fourth edition. William Makepeace...

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:24:00 -0400

The Rose and the Ring…Fourth edition.

William Makepeace Thackeray (London, 1866)

While Thackeray may be best known for his more adult works, Vanity Fair and The Luck of Barry Lyndon (made into the film Barry Lyndon by Stanley Kubrick in 1975), The Rose and the Ring is a funny and engaging story with wide appeal across age groups (ages 7+). Originally published in 1854 at Christmas, it was intended to be read to the whole family during December evenings in front of the fire. Scholars describe it as a satirical work of fiction that challenges aristocratic ideals of beauty and marriage. Most others would describe it as a very silly and entertaining story about four royal cousins. Heavily illustrated with delightful drawings by the author (who originally intended a career as an illustrator), this novel is still an excellent choice for reading out loud on long winter evenings. Of the illustration above, Thackeray writes, “Would you not fancy, from this picture, that [Countess] Gruffanuff must have been a person of the highest birth? She looks so haughty that I should have thought her a Princess at the very least, with a pedigree reaching as far back as the Deluge.”

Novels of the 18th & 19th Century

Face to Face with the Mexicans: the domestic life, educational,...

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 01:24:56 -0400

Face to Face with the Mexicans: the domestic life, educational, social, and business ways of the Mexican People. With 200 illustrations. With musical notes.

Fanny Chambers Gooch (New York, 1890)

After living for seven years in Mexico, Fanny Gooch thought the Mexican people were “not properly understood” by her countrymen and, as a “sacred mission and a tribute” to her Mexican friends, undertook the writing of Face to Face with the Mexicans. Here Gooch endeavors to “minutely describe” Mexican life and character. The result is a highly personal and incredibly detailed account of nearly every conceivable aspect of Mexican life at the end of the 19th Century. In 600 pages Gooch covers everything from public gardens to the shape of house keys. There are recipes (including Chili y Huevos con Queso and a “dainty dessert” requiring 22 eggs), descriptions of home remedies, sections on literature, song, dance, children’s games, courtship, religion, history, markets, prisons, and railways. Because Gooch took the time to record the ‘obvious’ details of everyday life, exactly the minutiae that is often later lost to history, this book is a rich resource for anyone interested in answering questions such as, “Where did cradles hang?” (underneath the table), “How were headaches cured?” (rose petals pasted on the temples), “What could one expect as a guest in a hotel?” (no soap or matches for the candles), or “How were tonsillectomies performed?” (don’t ask…)

History of Central & South America

Narrative of shipwrecks of the Royal Navy between 1793 and...

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 00:07:29 -0400

Narrative of shipwrecks of the Royal Navy between 1793 and 1849.

William O.S. Gilly (London, 1850)

With his gripping and sensational writing style, Gilly would have done well writing for some of today’s tabloids. For his Narrative, he selected only the “most interesting” shipwrecks that occurred in the 54 year period from 1793-1847. These included shipwrecks resulting from storms, accidents, military engagements, and other misfortunes. In the Preface, Gilly warns the reader that “tragic scenes are described, many of them far exceeding the imaginary terrors of fiction.” As an example, in 1796 on the eve before sailing, and when the Amphion frigate was crowded with family members, an explosion on board killed all but ten people. One of the survivors was a child. Gilly writes that “in the terror of the moment, the mother had grasped it in her arms, but, horrible to relate, the lower part of her body was blown to pieces, whilst the upper part remained unhurt, and it was discovered with the arms till clasping the living child to the lifeless bosom.” The reader of these harrowing tales will require nearly as much “cool determination” and “nerve” as the British seamen involved in the shipwrecks. Not recommended reading before bed.

Military History & Warfare

The Pictorial Itinerary, an illustrated guide to the railways...

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 23:38:15 -0400

The Pictorial Itinerary, an illustrated guide to the railways and coach-roads of North Wales.

Anonymous (London, 1884)

For only a shilling, the tourist in North Wales could have in hand a fine railway map, railway and coach itineraries with mileage noted and points of interest explained, 150 sketches of what they could expect to see, a list of hotels in North Wales, and over 40 pages of advertisements. The advertisements are mostly for hotels and local railways such as the Cambrian, Corris, and Festinog (a narrow gauge, ‘miniature’ railway). Other advertisements are for a Dress Warehouse (boasting “Eight Head Dressmakers, and Three Hundred Assistants,” an establishment advertising “pianofortes on hire during the Summer Months,” apartments with “well aired Beds to let,” and tonics such as Rowland’s Euplysia, “a botanical wash for cleansing the hair…of dandriff.” Publicized as the “most Practical and Interesting of all Guides to North Wales,” this book was hailed on publication as “a marvel of cheapness” by the South Wales Daily News. This is a curious piece of ephemera that will interest anyone fascinated by Wales, trains, or the details of Victorian daily life.

History of Britain & Ireland

The Rhetorical Class Book: or, the principles and practice of...

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:25:00 -0400

The Rhetorical Class Book: or, the principles and practice of Elocution defined and illustrated. …Being an exposition of the organs and the operations of speech. With selections from popular writers, principally of the present day, etc.

Henry Innes (London, 1834)

This 1834 textbook on elocution promises, among other things, to set one straight on the correct pronunciation of suttnty (certainty), idear (idea), and flutt’rin’ (fluttering). Innes divides the Class Book into two sections: the first addresses the “organs and operations of speech.” Here one learns about the anatomy of speech, correct pronunciation, inflection, and appropriate actions (e.g. when beginning to speak, one “should rest the whole weight of [one’s] body on the right leg.”) Included here are “impediments in speech” such as spluttering, clipping, hissing, and snivelling (otherwise known as “speaking through the nose,” Innes attributes snivelling to the taking of too much snuff.) This section concludes with Rules and Hints, where Innes suggests that, when speaking, one should “draw in and expel the breath with the utmost vehemence.” The second section, comprising the greater part of the book, is devoted to Rhetorical Exercises. These are often literary or otherwise of the edifying variety, presumably so that in addition to drastically improving one’s elocution, one is able to simultaneously improve one’s moral fiber. The Exercises range in length from a single line, such as “The breast of the upright man is the abode of peace and joy,” to poems or prose of a few pages. One of the first Exercises is from Addison: “If we must lash one another, let it be with the manly strokes of wit and satire.” The passage of time may have lent more wit and satire to Innes’ Class Book than he originally intended…

History of Social Sciences

Gleanings from Bible Lands, Being Chapters on Eastern Cities,...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:37:00 -0400

Gleanings from Bible Lands, Being Chapters on Eastern Cities, Their Dwellings, Furniture, &c. and the Dress and Occupations of the Inhabitants.

Alfred E. Knight (London, 1891)

Knight skillfully combines Eastern social history with Biblical study and suggests in his Preface that “a general knowledge of the manners and customs of the East is of real assistance to the student of Holy Scripture.” His inquiry is broken down into chapters titled “Without the City,”, “Streets and Dwelling-houses,” “The Kitchen,” “The Banquet Hall,” “The Bath and the Bed-chamber,” “The ‘Wardrobe’ and Jewel-casket,” and “Some Ancient Handicrafts.” The details within each chapter are extraordinary: there is a section devoted to Onions, Leeks, and Garlic, another to Drinking Fountains, and another to Nose-rings and Earrings. In the course of his book, Knight explains the social customs behind over 500 passages of scripture. This book will be of interest to anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of the relationship between Biblical passages and daily life in Biblical lands. Enthusiasts may also want to seek out Knight’s Bible Plants and Animals.

History of the Middle East

The Life and Adventures of Toby, the Sapient Pig; with his...

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 22:47:00 -0400

The Life and Adventures of Toby, the Sapient Pig; with his opinions on men and manners. Written by himself.

Toby (London, 1817)

Learned pigs, pigs that could spell, read, count, or tell the time or the age of audience members, were all the rage in late 18th and early 19th century England. One such pig named Toby became quite a sensation in his own right. This 25 page book is his brief autobiography, ostensibly written by himself, but published and sold (and most likely penned) by former magician turned animal trainer, Nicholas Hoare. It is a tongue-in-cheek piece that also serves as very effective publicity for Toby’s many performances (for a handbill advertising one of Toby’s appearances, please click here.)

Fiction & Prose

The Coming of Father Christmas Eliza F. Manning (London,...

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:00:36 -0400

The Coming of Father Christmas

Eliza F. Manning (London, 1892)

This enchanting 35 page Christmas book tells the story of Father Christmas who, after much anticipation, arrives “at last.” In joy and excitement, the children “dance and whirl in gladness round him.” There is general celebration and goodwill as Father Christmas collects the orphaned, “friendless children” from the city and provides a feast for all. Presents and a telling of the Christmas story follow. All is done in verse which is juxtaposed with illustration in such a way as to make each page a charming Victorian vignette. The Coming of Father Christmas will appeal to both adults and children and is unabashedly full of heartwarming holiday cheer.

Poetry & Drama

England through Chinese Spectacles. Leaves from the notebook of...

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:06:48 -0400

England through Chinese Spectacles. Leaves from the notebook of Wo Chang.

Wo Chang (London, 1897)

Wo Chang lived in England for over 25 years before writing this eloquent and scathing indictment of the irregularities and hypocrisies of “British social, political, ethical, and economic life.” His topics include family life, education, society, doctors, lawyers, paupers, crime and punishment, and “downtrodden English toilers.” He calls dowries a “degrading custom,” wonders why homeless children are jailed (rather than their parents), and likewise why women who tried to commit suicide by jumping into the Thames were jailed rather than their “bad husbands whose brutality drove them to [it].” He asks, “Are the husbands to go unpunished, and is nothing to be done to prevent the manufacture of such husbands?” He is appalled by the treatment of animals and describes the “revolting sport” of “slaughtering holocausts of pigeons in inhuman fashion.” His contempt for both doctors and lawyers in the West is palpable. In China, he says, “the rule in regard to doctors is unmistakably simple: no cure, no pay.” In Britain he finds it reprehensible that so many people “are compelled to go on living without being ill, because they cannot afford to pay a medical man to kill or cure them.” Nor are the Americans spared. Passing through San Francisco, he notes that “in the Christian City of San Francisco” (where there were over 40,000 Chinese) they “treat my countrymen like dogs during the week, while on Sundays praying for their conversion.” Wo Chang’s account is a rare find, both because there are so few printed records in English of how other cultures viewed Britain and because Wo Chang manages to be amusing, bitter, insightful, thought-provoking, and (in many cases) still timely.

History of Travel

Holland and the Hollanders…With illustrations. David...

Sat, 06 Aug 2011 08:17:00 -0400

Holland and the Hollanders…With illustrations.

David Storrar Meldrum (Edinburgh, 1899)

According to Meldrum, Holland was “liable to float away were she not pinned in her place in Europe by piles and poles.” So begins Meldrum’s comprehensive and highly readable study of Holland and its inhabitants. His book is neatly divided into chapters covering his impressions of “Holland of To-day,” its government, education, “Fight with the Waters,” and descriptions of the various provinces, including the land, customs, occupations, social structure, and general character of the people. Meldrum is a careful observer although fond of generalizations such as “…the Dutch are indubitably, aggressively, a cleanly people.” Of the Frisians (a European ethnic group in the north of Holland) we learn they are “large in frame and fine in the bone, with long well-shaped…toes and fingers” and, additionally, that they are “fond of feasts and games, simple, frank, hot-tempered but easily forgiving, [and] orderly but hateful of oppression.” This is a valuable work both for what it says about the Hollanders and for understanding how they were perceived by other Europeans.

History of Europe

The Tourist’s Guide to Hong Kong, with short trips to the...

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:51:00 -0400

The Tourist’s Guide to Hong Kong, with short trips to the Mainland of China.

R.C. Hurley (Hong Kong, 1897)

By 1897 Hong Kong had been a European Colony for 55 years. This book was written to provide “as much information as possible necessary to the well being and enjoyment of the tourist.” The author calls Hong Kong a “wonderful specimen of Anglo Saxon pluck and energy” having, as he says, “germinated [a colony] on the soiless [sic] surface of a barren rock.” The book offers maps, photographs, a Historical sketch (1625-1896), twelve recommended itineraries on the island, eight short itineraries for the mainland, as well as information and advertisements for everything from how to locate a surgeon-dentist, to tram and steamship schedules and fares, to where to purchase stamps, nautical books, and curios. The author includes a helpful basic vocabulary with all the usual phrases, plus such oddities as “What is that to you?” and “He did it on purpose.” In addition to the island’s great natural beauty, the author hails it as a place where “representatives of many races” enjoy “that perfect freedom, that true liberty, which for centuries has been the birthright of those, regardless of colour or creed, who elect to reside under the protection of the Union Jack.” For comparison, a modern travel guide to Hong Kong may be found at Wikitravel.

History of Asia

Travels and Adventures of an Orchid Hunter. An Account of Canoe...

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:57:16 -0400

Travels and Adventures of an Orchid Hunter. An Account of Canoe and Camp Life in Columbia, while Collecting Orchids in the Northern Andes.

Albert Millican (London, 1891)

Endeavoring to discover orchids like Cattleya Mendelii and Odontoglossum Crispum in their natural habitats, Millican made five journeys to South America in a four year period. Curiously, he set off “with a stock of knives, cutlasses, revolvers, rifle” and an “overflowing supply of tobacco and newspapers.” Partly written for the “lover of orchids,” partly intended as a travel guide to Columbia, Millican’s book is essentially a travelogue in which he also sets forth “the natural riches of the country and the manners of the various classes of people.” Chapters include topics such as coal and salt mines, vegetation at twelve thousand feet, stalking jaguars, washerwomen, humming-birds, a coffee plantation, life in the forest, and a colonial cricket match. Whether he is writing about swinging “monkey-like, from one branch to another” to cross a turbulent river or whether he is waxing overly poetic on board ship about the “dimpled cheeks” and “waving raven hair” of the very young wife of a much older man, Millican is definitely entertaining to read. (Of the former, Millican imagines there may be “something of sorrow hid behind so extraordinary a union” and notices that the young woman has stitched inside her work-basket “Better to be an old man’s darling than a young man’s slave.”) The book is helpfully illustrated with a large number of photographs and drawings.

History of Central & South America

The Baby’s Museum; or, Rhymes, jingles and...

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 00:39:00 -0400

The Baby’s Museum; or, Rhymes, jingles and ditties

Anonymous (London, 1882)

This book of Mother Goose rhymes is so delightful it would please young children even today. On each of its 170 pages there are one to two rhymes and as many illustrations. The text is large and easy to read and the illustrations are so varied that they never cease to interest. A few of the illustrations depict the traditional movements that accompany the rhymes. An Index is provided at the back. The advertisements that bookend the text are also entertaining. There are ads for cough lozenges to remedy asthma and bronchitis, lotions to destroy hair nits, infant formula (that is “used in the Royal Nurseries” and that does “not contain an excess of sugar”), Vegetable Purifying Pills which are “entirely free from Mercury” (thank goodness), pianos, and Cadbury Cocoa. One can’t help but imagine healthy, well-fed children enjoying a little cocoa after their piano lessons.

General Historical Collections

The Free Lands of Iowa. Being an accurate description of the...

Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:17:00 -0400

The Free Lands of Iowa. Being an accurate description of the Sioux City land-district, etc.

A.R. Fulton (Des Moines, Iowa, 1869)

This 67 page pamphlet showing all the vacant lands still available in northwest Iowa in 1869 was written for “all in search of cheap homes.” It describes the counties in the district, explains the system of public land surveys, and prints the requirements of the Homestead Act (originally signed into law in 1862, the Homestead Act gave anyone who met the requirements 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi). The information provided for each county includes streams, lakes, springs and wells, timber, soil and surface, game, health, settlements, statistics, and a section titled “What is needed.” Palo Alto County, for example, boasted “ten schools…in which children are taught at least six months in the year” as well as “one saw mill, three blacksmith shops, one store, one doctor, one lawyer and six post offices.” The principle agricultural crops were corn, wheat, oats, and potatoes. “Good first-class prairie” could be had for $2.50 - $5.00 an acre. The descriptions of Iowa are accurate and appreciative. The author writes “we have no elevations that can be called mountains, and yet no considerable portion of the surface is level” and further that Iowa is made up of “vast prairies possessing a weird sublimity that no pen can describe.” In a state where over 150 days per year are below freezing, the author adds in a thundering understatement that the “the winters are cold.”

Geography & Topography

Chronological Tables of Ancient History. A Synchronistic...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:59:18 -0400

Chronological Tables of Ancient History. A Synchronistic arrangement of the events.

Arthur Charles Jennings (London, 1888)

Jennings’ chronological tables date from “the received date of the Foundation of Rome to the Birth of Christ” and have as their aim a “synoptic view” of ancient history. Arranged in a clear and concise manner, each two page spread covers roughly ten to twenty years of history. Jennings employs six categories: ‘Political History’, ‘Jewish Church History’, ‘Wars, Popular Movements, Catastrophes’, ‘Biography and Topography’, ‘Inventions, Discoveries, Science, Art’, and ‘Laws, Literature, Drama, Institutions’. There is also a detailed Index. Jennings’ book makes it easy to grasp the chronological relationship of events and developments across the ancient world. Indeed, the Chronological Tables provide an enlightening and helpful shortcut to mastering a broad knowledge of ancient history.

History of the Ancient World

Through Persia on a Side-Saddle…With illustrations,...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:58:00 -0400

Through Persia on a Side-Saddle…With illustrations, etc.

Ella Sykes (London, 1898)

In 1894 Captain Sykes was asked by the British Foreign Office to establish a Consulate in Persia (present day Iran) in the districts of Kerman and Baluchistan. Only ten days before his departure, he asked his sister if she would accompany him. Ella Sykes was “delighted by the prospect.” This tome of over 400 pages is a record of the years she spent in Persia, a country which became a “much-loved home.” In the Preface, Sykes writes, “I believe that I am the first European woman who has visited Kerman and Persian Baluchistan, my experiences may perhaps interest other women who feel the ‘Wanderlust’ but are unable to gratify their longing for adventure.” Indeed, her keen powers of observation, in combination with her gentle and engaging writing style, make this a wonderful read. The text is illustrated with more than thirty diverse, and well-chosen, photographs. If you want to be wholly engrossed in another country, in another era, accompany Sykes as she rides side-saddle through late 19th Century Persia.

History of the Middle East

A Popular Handbook to New Zealand. Arthur Clayden (London,...

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 23:27:00 -0400

A Popular Handbook to New Zealand.

Arthur Clayden (London, 1886)

Clayden wrote this book not as a tourist guidebook to New Zealand but as a handbook for the “ordinary prospective emigrant” from the English middle-class. He covers all things of interest to the emigrant, from industry, manufacturing, and agricultural prospects, to education, government, general statistics, banking, and social life. The reader learns details of the rabbit-skin industry, where the hot springs are, and that the women in New Zealand “drink a good deal on the quiet.” His chapters called “Openings for Persons of Small Means” and “Hints to Intending Emigrants” are especially intriguing. In this last, Clayden gives all manner of suggestions including “Plant fruit trees early,” “Pack up every good book you possess,” “Preserve your self-respect” (by not dressing shabbily), and “Buy…good….underclothing” before leaving England. While encouraging emigration to this British colony, Clayden advises “all Englishmen and English women over forty…to leave colonial life severely alone.” Clayden’s Handbook is undeniably informative, frank, and amusingly opinionated. Most importantly it provides a window into this chapter of New Zealand’s history.

History of Australia, New Zealand and The Pacific