Overview

"In 1728, William Byrd, the wealthy, English-educated master of Westover plantation, undertook a journey with a troop of commissioners, surveyors, and woodsmen to determine the exact boundary between North Carolina and Virginia. Byrd recorded the journey in two classics of colonial literature - """"The History of the Dividing Line"""" and """"The Secret History of the Line"""" - which showcase in varying measure his keen observations of natural phenomena, his erudition, his predilection for exercise and sexual conquest, and his witty and elegant prose.""""Byrd's Line"""" is Ausband's dialogue with Byrd across the years. As Ausband slogs through the Great Dismal Swamp and the thickets and forests that Byrd wrote about, he interlaces his own adventure with quotations from Byrd."

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9780813921358

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Reviews

Byrd's published journals and Ausband's own observations form the dual basis of Byrd's Line, which reads like a journal, travelogue, and field book all rolled in one. Ausband likens the book to a conversation in which he matches Byrd's recordings with our modern landscape. - Hampton Roads Monthly Ausband's book is a labor of love and a bid to re-experience what Byrd saw, felt, and even heard. - William and Mary Quarterly By consulting segments of Virginia gentleman William Byrd's writings as he worked on mapping the state line in 1728 and combining them with modern explanations of some of the explorer's more colorful descriptions of what he saw, Ausband has written a lively book that features a dialogue between past and present. - Our State A... substantial work that is not only authoritative but also a pleasure to read. - Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

Byrd's published journals and Ausband's own observations form the dual basis of Byrd's Line, which reads like a journal, travelogue, and field book all rolled in one. Ausband likens the book to a conversation in which he matches Byrd's recordings with our modern landscape. - Hampton Roads Monthly Ausband's book is a labor of love and a bid to re-experience what Byrd saw, felt, and even heard. - William and Mary Quarterly By consulting segments of Virginia gentleman William Byrd's writings as he worked on mapping the state line in 1728 and combining them with modern explanations of some of the explorer's more colorful descriptions of what he saw, Ausband has written a lively book that features a dialogue between past and present. - Our State A... substantial work that is not only authoritative but also a pleasure to read. - Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

Author Information

Stephen Conrad Ausband is Professor of English at Averett University. He is the author of Outdoors Year Round: A Guide to Fishing and Hunting in Coastal Virginia and North Carolina, Myth and Meaning, Myth and Order, and of numerous articles for Virginia Wildlife and other publications.

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