In 1872, Isabella Bird, daughter of a clergyman, set off alone to the Antipodes 'in search of health' and found she had embarked on a life of adventurous travel. In 1873, wearing Hawaiian riding dress, she rode her horse through the American Wild West, a terrain only newly opened to pioneer settlement. The letters that make up this volume were first published in 1879. They tell of magnificent, unspoiled landscapes and abundant wildlife, of encounters with rattlesnakes, wolves, pumas and grizzly bears, and her reactions to the volatile passions of the miners and pioneer settlers. A classic account of a truly astounding journey.
Isabella Bird traveled by horseback from Truckee, California, through the Tahoe Basin and on to Colorado where, during the autumn and early winter of 1873, she explored more than eight hundred miles of Rocky Mountain terrain only recently opened to pioneer settlement. Riding not sidesaddle but frontwards like a man (though she threatened to sue the Times for saying she dressed like one), she encountered magnificent unspoiled landscapes and abundant wildlife-including rattlesnakes, wolves, pumas, and grizzly bears.
In letters to her sister, first printed in the magazine The Leisure Hour, Bird recounted her adventures and her impressions of the small remote townships and the miners and pioneer settlers she came across. For a time she was joined by Jim Nugent, Rocky Mountain Jim, an outlaw with one eye and an affinity for violence and poetry and someone Bird described as a man any woman might love, but no sane woman would marry, in a section excised from her letters before their publication.
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, Bird's fourth and most famous book, remains a classic of Western literature.
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (1879) is a work of travel literature by British explorer Isabella Bird. Adventurous from a young age, Bird gained a reputation as a writer and photographer interested in nature and the stories and cultures of people around the world. A bestselling author and the first woman inducted into the Royal Geographical Society, Bird is recognized today as a pioneering woman whose contributions to travel writing, exploration, and philanthropy are immeasurable. In 1872-after a year of sailing from Britain to Australia and Hawaii-Isabella Bird journeyed by boat to San Francisco before making her way over land through California and Wyoming to the Colorado Territory. There, she befriended an outdoorsman named Rocky Mountain Jim, who guided her throughout the vast wilderness of Colorado and accompanied her during a journey of over 800 miles. Traveling on foot and on horseback-Bird was an experienced and skillful rider-the two formed a curious but formidable pair, eventually reaching the 14,259 foot (4346 m) summit of Longs Peak, making Bird one of the first women to accomplish the feat. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, Bird's most iconic work, was a bestseller upon publication, and has since inspired generations of readers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Isabella Bird's A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains is a classic of American literature and travel writing reimagined for modern readers.
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella L. Bird is a captivating travelogue that takes readers on a remarkable journey through 19th-century Japan. Written in the form of letters to her sister, Bird recounts her intrepid travels from Tokyo to Hokkaido in 1878, a time when Japan was just opening its doors to the Western world.
At the age of 46, Bird, accompanied by her Japanese interpreter Ito, explores regions seldom seen by Westerners. Her vivid descriptions bring to life the intricacies of Japanese houses, clothing, customs, and the breathtaking natural environment during the early years of the Meiji Restoration. The book offers a unique perspective on the cultural and societal changes occurring in Japan at that time. Bird also provides an in-depth look at the Ainu people, highlighting her experiences and observations of their culture. Furthermore, the book does not shy away from addressing the poverty she witnessed outside the major cities.
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan is not just a travel narrative; it's a historical document that offers a window into a world on the cusp of modernization.
First published serially and then into a book in 1879, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains is one of the many accounts of Isabella L. Bird's amazing travels and adventures. Born in Yorkshire, England in 1831, Bird was never formally educated and was often sickly as a child, but she was an avid reader and loved the outdoors. In 1854, at the age of twenty-two, she left a comfortable life in England for her first trip abroad to America. She fell in love with discovering new places and defied tradition while undertaking grand adventures as an unmarried woman. Bird went onto travel to Australia and Hawaii, while publishing several accounts of her experiences, before finding her way to Colorado. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, her fourth publication and her most famous, contains the account of six months of her travels in 1873 through the rugged terrain of the Colorado Rockies. The book is based upon her colorful letters sent back home to her sister and the account relates the many hardships of the great western frontier, the unique characters she meets, and the incredible natural world she found in the newly settled western territories. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains (1879) is a work of travel literature by British explorer Isabella Bird. Adventurous from a young age, Bird gained a reputation as a writer and photographer interested in nature and the stories and cultures of people around the world. A bestselling author and the first woman inducted into the Royal Geographical Society, Bird is recognized today as a pioneering woman whose contributions to travel writing, exploration, and philanthropy are immeasurable. In 1872-after a year of sailing from Britain to Australia and Hawaii-Isabella Bird journeyed by boat to San Francisco before making her way over land through California and Wyoming to the Colorado Territory. There, she befriended an outdoorsman named Rocky Mountain Jim, who guided her throughout the vast wilderness of Colorado and accompanied her during a journey of over 800 miles. Traveling on foot and on horseback-Bird was an experienced and skillful rider-the two formed a curious but formidable pair, eventually reaching the 14,259 foot (4346 m) summit of Longs Peak, making Bird one of the first women to accomplish the feat. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, Bird's most iconic work, was a bestseller upon publication, and has since inspired generations of readers. This edition of Isabella Bird's A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains is a classic of American literature and travel writing reimagined for modern readers.
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Isabella Bird spent much of 1890 roaming the exotic lands of Persia and Kurdistan, traversing the coast and secluded towns and villages, keeping this vivid, descriptive, diary of local life and culture.
While much of Europe had industrialized over the century prior, the Middle East of the late 19th century had not undergone such a transformation. Isabella Bird traversed Persia - modern-day Iran - and saw sights little-changed over the centuries. She traversed the coastline on ferries, and joined caravans to cross the land, recounting the appearance and customs of the locals, their marketplaces, cuisine, and worship. For the modern reader, her descriptions offer a window into a now-departed and romantic era of Eastern majesty.
An experienced travel writer, Isabella Bird spares little detail - the climate, the mannerisms of the population, the pulse of daily living in the towns and villages. Her narrations bring Persia to life; the beauty of places such as Kermanshah counterpointed by down-to-earth, frank discussions of remaining cool in an arid climate characterized by extreme temperatures, and sampling foods unusual to the Western palette. Accompanying the text are a total of fifteen illustrations of the local peoples, architecture and scenes of everyday life.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
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