New-York tribune., 1870-04-26
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
RAYARD TAYLOR.

Edition 12mO. PIP. 506. c. T. Putnam d Son
In 1s45, Mr.. Taylor, then nineteen years old still
boy, and less acquainted with life than most boys
of his age gathered together all that he had the
rewards of past, and TO some degree of prospective
literary labor and took that journey into far cOun-
ties which was to be much longer and more event
full than he anticipated, He had, he tells MS, an
immense capacity for wonder and enjoyment but not
much power as yet, TO discriminate between the i'm
portant and the trivial the true and the false Ills
motive for journcying was two-fod: longing to see
the Old World he had read and dreamed OF, ana
desire to procure of education which ms err
cumstances did not permit him TO ENJOY at nome.
Both from necessity and choice he Travelled on foot
observing and recording as he plodded along Tramp
ing whenever it was possible, and taking the cheap
est conveyancos when trampng was not TO be Thought
Of the youth in company with his cousin, ex-
plored Great Britain and Europe as only youth AMI
mated by enthusiasm and proof against fatigue, can
Wherever they went, and they went to a great many
places they got at the heart of things. Making first
for Northern Ireland they Dunluce Castle the
Giants Causeway and the other wonders of that
strange region; they tasted the of Scotland
in the Highlands, among the lakes and castles, at
Edinburgh Abbotsford and Melrose; they walked
about London from end to end; they crossed the
Channel admired the richness of Flemish archltec-
ture in Ghent and Bruges; stood by the tomb OF
ChaTleluarpe wondered before the Cologne Cattle
dral. rejoiced in the "exulting and abounding"
Rhine, reveled in the beauties of Heidelberg MIR.
TAYLOR lived in Frankfort and its associations for
months, participated in the delights of a German
Christmas. talked with Mendelssohn. studied Ger
man and art in their own land The simple mode OF
iourneving opened to the wanderer the secrets of
village life the daily experiences of the peasantryi
he threw himself on the hospitality of strangers,
mingled with the groups assembled at the country
inns met and chatted with pilgrims on the road.
The Hartz Mountains entertained him with Wlld
legends wild scenery and wild storms; he visited the
battlefield of Leipsic, the gallery and library OF
Dresden, went into raptures over the Sistine Ma
DONNA and had his curiosity gratiied by the Green
Vaults SaxOny and Bohemia found the youth ap-
,reciative of their pcculiarites vienna impressed
him with her treasures Of art her relics, her arc-
lecture. and her music; Munich dazzled him withits
various splcndor; Augsburg, and Wirtemberg, and
STUTTGART had each an interest Then came the Black
Forest: next Switzerland, Schaithausen, Zurich,
Schwytz Grath Altorf, where youth was then per-
mitted TO indulge in hcroics over the now mythical
William Tell: the Devils Bridge, st. Gothard; and
then came the lovely Lago MaggiOre, the BorrOmean
Islands and Italy. Milan, Genoa, LeghOrn Pisa,
displayed their wonders in rapid succession, and
Florence was reached There Mr.. TAYLOR stayed four
months, at an expense of ten dollars month for
board-making pilgIimages thence to NallambroSa
and Sieua visiting all the points of historical and
aesthetic interest and laying up rich store Of i'm
pressions for future use. Eight days of travel
brought him to Rome, through Tuscany and Central
Italy. by Perugia and Foligno, Lake Thrasymene
and the Vale Of Clytumnus. Circumstances allowed
him but two weeks i'll Rome. but every day was dill
igcntly employed Naples he obliged TO fOregO,
ard Greece which had been the cTownng glory of his
dream faded into the extreme distance of his hope
fatiguing passage took him TO Paris where he
spent five weeks pleasantly. with empty pockets, in
all attic Six weeks more in London. at three shil-
hugs q day. the which shillings did not always come
to time and had to be earned by faithful work,
brought the foreign experience to close The tTav-
ecr after misty ard mOnotonous life III the vast
rtv returned as he went in the secOnd-cass cabin
of a sailing vessel, which in thirty-Seven days
brought him home. He had been absent two years
We venture to say that in the same space of time no
traveller ever experienced more. But what he saw
was not the best of what he gained. He learned how
tO travel what worth seeing, and how to see 1t
he cultivated his power of observation, and acquired
talent for recording the impressions he took that
was 10 be of great value to him. In fact, that trip
decided for a time his career. In 1919 he was sent
out to California special correspondent. He had
been but two years at home when destiny dispatched
him to Egypt, whence the way was opened TO Cen
trdl Africa. talcSlnc, Sllld, anu ASld hlIol lt4l
naturally in his track before he turned his face
toward the Atlantic again.
At Constantinople, a,hand outstretched from the
editorial Office in NewYorl pushed him off to China
and japan. In 1886, Che unweaTied feet were again
on the move toward Northern Europe-NOrway,
Sweden, Denmark, Lapland; Russia and Greece fol-
lowed contributing stores of experience to the
abundant supply already gathered. In the Old
World, Central Asia, Persia and the Caucasus re-
main unvisted in the New World, South America
is unexpored. Mr. Taylor intimates purpose of
striking out again for these uninterrupted regions.
The zest for travel is much diminished, the quiet
time Of middle-life has come, the home has been
built and furnished literary labor has been laid out
for many years-the results of the long wandering
must be summed up, worked over, and turned to
their best uses for journeys over the surface of the
globe journeys in other and more attractive fields
must he undertaken.
II is fit that as the traveller closes his record uni
form edition of it-a household editioncheap, con-
venent in size, pleasing TO the eye, should be pub
shed for the benefit Of the new class of readers that
has come up since the earliest portions of 1t were
written. The West swarms with people to whom
Europe is a land unknown who must travel abroad,
if at all, in imaginary vehicles, and see the great
world through others eyes.
To these we can commend Mr. Taylors books of
travel. Tins first volume is particularly eIJoyaDlc
The popularity of it has been immense is evil
denced by the fact that in nine years nineteen edi
TONS numbering in all forty Thousand copies,
sold. The success is not surprising. The novelty of
the expedition attracted attention. the circumstances
under which it was undertaken aroused in
terest in the traveller and the bright way in which
the tale of the pilgrimage told gave fascina-
tion to the pages. The book was written on the
route partly by the wayside, when resting at mid
day. and partly on the rough tables of peasant inns
in the stiffness of deserted ruins amid the sublime