Overview

Definitive modern edition of Stevenson's intriguing account of his emigration from Scotland to California The Amateur Emigrant, an autobiographical account of Stevenson's voyage from Scotland to California in 1879, is a rich and provocative work of late-Victorian travel writing and cultural criticism. It describes vividly how Stevenson mixed with 'steerage' passengers aboard an Atlantic steamship and experienced the indignities of a transcontinental emigrant train. The Amateur Emigrant engages critically with Victorian ideas about class, race, and gender, and makes an important contribution to the literature of emigration. Stevenson's middle-class family and friends found the work so transgressive that it was withdrawn from publication at proof stage. It was published in bowdlerized form in 1895 and since then has rarely been available in the form in which Stevenson composed it. Key Features Uses the original manuscript as copy text, making available the work as Stevenson originally composed itScholarly introduction situates The Amateur Emigrant in relation to important biographical, critical, historical, social, and generic contexts, and offers a summary of key critical responsesProvides full textual apparatus including variant readings from hitherto unavailable 1880 proofs, textual essay, explanatory notes, and chronologyExciting new visual material including scans of the manuscript and proofs and a map of Stevenson's journey

Full Product Details

9780748669745

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Dr Julia Reid is a Lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University of Leeds. She is the author of Robert Louis Stevenson, Science, and the Fin de Siècle (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available