Passage to America : celebrated European visitors in search of the American adventure / Gloria Deák.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Deák, Gloria-Gilda, 1930- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Authors, English--Travel--United States--History--19th century--Sources.

Authors, English.

Travel in literature.

Travelers' writings, European--History and criticism.

Travelers' writings, European.

United States--Description and travel.

United States.

United States--Foreign public opinion, European--History--19th century--Sources.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (503 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : I.B. Tauris, 2013.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

"America was a source of fascination to Europeans arriving there during the course of the nineteenth century. At first glance, the New World was very similar to the societies they left behind in their native countries, but in many aspects of politics, culture and society, the American experience was vastly different - almost unrecognizable so - from Old World Europe. Europeans were astounded that America could survive without a monarch, a standing army and the hierarchical society which still dominated Europe. Some travellers, such as the actress Fanny Kemble, were truly convinced America would eventually revert to a monarchy; others, such as Frances Wright and even Oscar Wilde, took their opinions further, and attempted to fix aspects of America - described in 1827 by the young Scottish captain Basil Hall, as 'one of England's "occasional failures"'. Many prominent visitors to the United States recorded their responses to this emerging society in their diaries, letters and journals; and many of them, like the fulminating Frances Trollope, were brutally and offensively honest in their accounts of the New World. They provide an insight into an America which is barely recognizable today whilst their writings set down a diverse and lively assortment of personal travel accounts. This book compares the impressions of a group of discerning and prominent Europeans from the cultural sphere - from the writers Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray and Oscar Wilde to luminaries of music and theatre such as Tchaikovsky and Fanny Kemble. Their reactions to the New World are as revealing of the European and American worlds as they are colourful and varied, providing a unique insight into the experiences of nineteenth century travelers to America -- Publishers website."--Bloomsbury Publishing.

Contents:

1. The new world sojourn of Baron and Baroness Hyde de Neuville

2. Frances Wright brings reform to America

3. The American pereginations of Captain Bail Hall

4. The new world enterprise of Frances Trollope

5. The political mission of Thomas Hamilton

6. The American debut of Fanny Kemble

7. The American odyssey of Harriet Martineau

8. The daring adventures of Charles Augustus Murray

9. The clairvoyance of Thomas Colley Grattan

10. The first visit of Charles Dickens to the new world

11. William Makepeace Thackeray lectures in America

12. Edward Dicey, reporter extraordinaire

13. Oscar Wilde brings the new aesthetics to America

14. Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky and the birth of Carnegie Hall

15. Henry James revisits the new world.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [263]-270) and index.

ISBN:

9780857723185

0857723189

9780755623594 (electronic book)

0755623592

9780857733399

0857733397

OCLC:

881415377