The Uncommercial Traveller is a collection of literary sketches and reminiscences written by Charles Dickens, published in 1860–1861.
In 1859 Dickens founded a new journal called All the Year Round, and the "Uncommercial Traveller" articles would be among his main contributions. He seems to have chosen the title and persona of the Uncommercial Traveller as a result of a speech he gave on 22 December 1859 to the Commercial Travellers' School London in his role as honorary chairman and treasurer. The persona sits well with a writer who liked to travel, not only as a tourist, but also to research and report what he found visiting Europe, America and giving book readings throughout Britain. He did not seem content to rest late in his career when he had attained wealth and comfort and continued travelling locally, walking the streets of London in the mould of the flâneur, a "gentleman stroller of city streets". He often suffered from insomnia and his night-time wanderings gave him an insight into some of the hidden aspects of Victorian London, details of which he also incorporated into his novels.
Excerpted from The Uncommercial Traveller on Wikipedia.
The Uncommercial Traveller
Author | Charles Dickens |
Country | England |
Genre | Travels |
Copyright | Public domain worldwide. |
Book cover | Portrait des Charles Dickens Artist: Daniel Maclise | wikimedia |
Ebooks | Project Gutenberg |
Scans | Internet Archive |
Audio | Librivox | Internet Archive Reader: Collaborative 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 |
Read online | The Uncommercial Traveller |