Bayard Taylor (1825–1878)
Author of Eldorado: Adventures in the Path of Empire
About the Author
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Series
Works by Bayard Taylor
A journey to central Africa, or, Life and landscapes from Egypt to the Negro kingdoms of the White Nile (Bayard Taylor's works) (1970) 16 copies
The lands of the Saracen : or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain (2007) 13 copies, 1 review
The picture of St. John 5 copies
At Home and Abroad, A Sketch-Book of Life, Scenery and Men, Revised Edition, Second Series (1860) 4 copies
Egypt and Iceland in the year 1874 3 copies
At home and abroad: A sketchbook of life, scenery, and men (Prose writings of Bayard Taylor. Rev. ed) (2016) 2 copies
The Quaker widow 2 copies
By-ways of Europe 2 copies
The byways of Europe 1 copy
Wonders of the Yellowstone (The Illustrated Library of Travel, Exploration and Adventure) (1873) 1 copy
Diversions of the Echo Club 1 copy
The masque of the gods 1 copy
The Works of Bayard Taylor 1 copy
The prophet a tragedy 1 copy
Poems of home and travel 1 copy
Associated Works
Pages Passed from Hand to Hand: The Hidden Tradition of Homosexual Literature in English from 1748 to 1914 (1998) — Contributor — 185 copies, 1 review
The Signet Classic Book of Contemporary American Short Stories (1985) — Contributor — 47 copies, 1 review
"The Man Who Thought Himself a Woman" and Other Queer Nineteenth-Century Short Stories (Q19: The Queer American Nineteenth Century) (2017) — Contributor — 20 copies
The Romantic Friendship Reader: Love Stories Between Men in Victorian America (2003) — Contributor — 17 copies
International Short Stories, Volume 1: American Stories (1910) — Contributor; Contributor — 15 copies
The Masterpiece Library of Short Stories Vol. XV: American — Contributor — 6 copies
Ode to Boy: Vol. 2: An Anthology of Same-Sex Attraction in Literature from the 19th Century Through the First World War (2014) — Contributor — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Taylor, Bayard James
- Birthdate
- 1825-01-11
- Date of death
- 1878-12-19
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- poet
translator
travel writer
journalist - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA
- Place of death
- Berlin, Germany
- Burial location
- Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Pennsylvania, USA
Members
Reviews
The Publisher Says: Joseph, a young man, marries a wealthy woman just as he is discovering an even more powerful love with his new friend Philip and must contend with the revelation of his wife's manipulative nature as well as his increasing feelings for Philip.
Joseph and His Friend has been deemed the "first gay novel" in America. It has also been noted for its enigmatic treatment of homosexuality. Roger Austen notes "In the nineteenth century, Bayard Taylor had written that the reader who show more did not feel 'cryptic forces' at play in Joseph and His Friend would hardly be interested in the external movement of his novel."
I PROCURED THIS BOOK FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG.
My Review: I love the straight-people arguments about how "gay" things weren't really A Thing in historical time! Alexander and Hephaistion? Besties! Achilles and Patroclus? Companions! Naomi and Ruth? Dutiful daughter-in-law! They really don't mean that. They mean "y'all creepy little losers aren't real and if you try harder you'll be just like me" so, since we won't do that, it's easy to hate us guilt-free. (Lest we be in any doubt, "I accept you, just not the sins you're committing" is hateful, judgmental rejection, like the horrifying "I love you anyway" that good christians love to emit.)
This is the story of a man who marries a horrible, manipulative woman, figures out she's awful, and confronts her with a demand that she change. Instead, she has a hissy fit and dies. (Good riddance to bad rubbish.) The way he figures out she's bad news is the love of a good man. He is involved in a train wreck (literal this time) and is nursed back to health by Philip. The good, kind, caring, nurturing Philip delivers everything Joseph has thirsted for. Their strong loving bond gives Joseph the strength to face down all of Society as his beady-eyed, small-souled religious-nut community suspects he is the cause of his revolting wife's death.
As soon as Joseph leaves these awful, judgmental church-goers and spends some more time in The Wilderness, the first place he returns to is Philip. "Ooops," thought Bayard Taylor, "that won't do," (or it was said to him) and hey-presto Joseph is suddenly, without the slightest reason, in love with Philip's sister who has barely appeared before this. As kludges go, this one's pretty awkward but doesn't shock me. Especially revealing of the nature of it as kludge is the extended meditation Philip runs through where he laments the fact that Joseph will be "take{n} further from my heart"; he determines, though, that it's really all for the best and he'll be vicariously happy intheir marriage. Note: he doesn't at any time think "now I'll go get me one of those marriage things" or think about how he's happy his sister has such a good man; he mourns his own loss and sets up a lifetime of pining for what she ghosted out from under his nose.
Why I kept going despite the very serious problems with this book is simple: the American nineteenth century wasn't all that tolerant of Others. We're racist now, but these folks had just fought a war five years before it came out to determine if chattel slavery was going to remain legal. The whole thing, just by existing, is a shock to the social system. The author acknowledges as much in his preface:
Borrow it from the library, download it for free. Not a book you'll want to re-read absent a real fascination with queerness in the nineteenth century. show less
Joseph and His Friend has been deemed the "first gay novel" in America. It has also been noted for its enigmatic treatment of homosexuality. Roger Austen notes "In the nineteenth century, Bayard Taylor had written that the reader who show more did not feel 'cryptic forces' at play in Joseph and His Friend would hardly be interested in the external movement of his novel."
I PROCURED THIS BOOK FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG.
My Review: I love the straight-people arguments about how "gay" things weren't really A Thing in historical time! Alexander and Hephaistion? Besties! Achilles and Patroclus? Companions! Naomi and Ruth? Dutiful daughter-in-law! They really don't mean that. They mean "y'all creepy little losers aren't real and if you try harder you'll be just like me" so, since we won't do that, it's easy to hate us guilt-free. (Lest we be in any doubt, "I accept you, just not the sins you're committing" is hateful, judgmental rejection, like the horrifying "I love you anyway" that good christians love to emit.)
This is the story of a man who marries a horrible, manipulative woman, figures out she's awful, and confronts her with a demand that she change. Instead, she has a hissy fit and dies. (Good riddance to bad rubbish.) The way he figures out she's bad news is the love of a good man. He is involved in a train wreck (literal this time) and is nursed back to health by Philip. The good, kind, caring, nurturing Philip delivers everything Joseph has thirsted for. Their strong loving bond gives Joseph the strength to face down all of Society as his beady-eyed, small-souled religious-nut community suspects he is the cause of his revolting wife's death.
As soon as Joseph leaves these awful, judgmental church-goers and spends some more time in The Wilderness, the first place he returns to is Philip. "Ooops," thought Bayard Taylor, "that won't do," (or it was said to him) and hey-presto Joseph is suddenly, without the slightest reason, in love with Philip's sister who has barely appeared before this. As kludges go, this one's pretty awkward but doesn't shock me. Especially revealing of the nature of it as kludge is the extended meditation Philip runs through where he laments the fact that Joseph will be "take{n} further from my heart"; he determines, though, that it's really all for the best and he'll be vicariously happy intheir marriage. Note: he doesn't at any time think "now I'll go get me one of those marriage things" or think about how he's happy his sister has such a good man; he mourns his own loss and sets up a lifetime of pining for what she ghosted out from under his nose.
Why I kept going despite the very serious problems with this book is simple: the American nineteenth century wasn't all that tolerant of Others. We're racist now, but these folks had just fought a war five years before it came out to determine if chattel slavery was going to remain legal. The whole thing, just by existing, is a shock to the social system. The author acknowledges as much in his preface:
To those who prefer quiet pictures of life to startling incidents, the attempt to illustrate the development of character to the mysteries of an elaborate plot, and the presentation of men and women in their mixed strength and weakness to the painting of wholly virtuous ideals and wholly evil examples: who are as interested in seeing moral and intellectual forces at work in a simple country community as on a more conspicuous place of human action: who believe in the truth and tenderness of man's love for man, as of man's love for woman: who recognize the trouble which confused ideals of life and the lack of high and intellect culture bring upon a great portion of our country population,–to all such, no explanation of this volume is necessary. Others will not read it.
Borrow it from the library, download it for free. Not a book you'll want to re-read absent a real fascination with queerness in the nineteenth century. show less
Let me just say, this is now my favorite book on the beginning of the Gold Rush in California. Bayard Taylor came in 1849, as a journalist and traveler, to observe history in the making. He spent several months in California, traveling around to various places where things were happening. His observations as he traveled are lovely, humorous, insightful, and full of life. As he describes the various people he comes in contact with, you almost feel that they are in the room with you. For a man show more of the 1840s, I find him very enlightened, yet still, some of his prejudices show through. For the most part though, he took people as he found them. As a native Californian, I loved his descriptions of the scenery and places he went to. It spoke to my heart.
On his way home, he decided to ride through Mexico on horseback, from Mazatlan to Veracruz. This was at the beginning of 1850, two years after our war with Mexico. His contemporaries thought he was crazy, and I must admit, I rather agree with them! Still, with his attitude of taking people as he found them, and a come what may view to life, he did very well, sort of. Though things didn't go quite the way he planned, he still made it to Veracruz and was full of admiration for the people and land of Mexico. Great reading. show less
On his way home, he decided to ride through Mexico on horseback, from Mazatlan to Veracruz. This was at the beginning of 1850, two years after our war with Mexico. His contemporaries thought he was crazy, and I must admit, I rather agree with them! Still, with his attitude of taking people as he found them, and a come what may view to life, he did very well, sort of. Though things didn't go quite the way he planned, he still made it to Veracruz and was full of admiration for the people and land of Mexico. Great reading. show less
As a teenager, Bayard Taylor was fascinated with the microcosms around him as well as the greater world he could not see. On January 1844 he got the opportunity to travel with a cousin to Europe. Sailing aboard the Oxford they traveled abroad to Europe. Once in Bruges, Taylor wrote about visiting the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I think he was referring to Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk. Taylor went on to have so many unique adventures like witnessing a burial by torchlight, dancing with friends on show more rooftops across Germany, traipsing through the Black Forest, and after nearly a year in Germany, moving on to Switzerland to visit an exiled poet named Freiligrath. Italy become a love of his when visiting the Royal Gallery in Florence. He spent four glorious months in Tuscany. As an aside, it was fascinating to hear Taylor's descriptions of the same art I experienced two years ago. Most stunning is his description of an area I plan to see this May: "Colossus of the Apennines" by John of Bologna outside Florence. I wonder if you can still climb on the rocks of his back, enter his body and peer out of his ear?
Since Views Afoot is comprised of journal entries and letters sent during Taylor's first two years of travel I did not expect to find a sense of humor, but Taylor is funny. After a night's stay in a posh establishment Taylor was surprised by the bill and quipped he was charged three francs for "the honor of breathing an aristocratic atmosphere" (p 52).
Despite the title of his book Taylor was not always on foot. Sometimes he and his companions traveled by boat and carriage whenever necessary.
The best part of Views Afoot was the section on travel advice. You must be content to sleep on hard beds. You must be willing to partake of course fare. You must be comfortable traveling for hours in hard rain or worse. Watch your traveling expenses closely. Sounds pretty reasonable for the 1800s. show less
Since Views Afoot is comprised of journal entries and letters sent during Taylor's first two years of travel I did not expect to find a sense of humor, but Taylor is funny. After a night's stay in a posh establishment Taylor was surprised by the bill and quipped he was charged three francs for "the honor of breathing an aristocratic atmosphere" (p 52).
Despite the title of his book Taylor was not always on foot. Sometimes he and his companions traveled by boat and carriage whenever necessary.
The best part of Views Afoot was the section on travel advice. You must be content to sleep on hard beds. You must be willing to partake of course fare. You must be comfortable traveling for hours in hard rain or worse. Watch your traveling expenses closely. Sounds pretty reasonable for the 1800s. show less
One of the great things about having an e-reader is that it gives you access to unusual historical books that you would never have looked at before.
Bayard Taylor writes about his Rucksack tour of Europe in the middle of the 19th century before he did his noteworthy translation of Faust. The book is based upon the collection of newspaper reports he sent home to help finance his trip. Although a sometime tedious book, it provides an excellent feel for life just before the 1848 revolutions. It show more also provides a sense for how close everything in Europe actually is and inspires you to put on your rucksack and follow in his footsteps. show less
Bayard Taylor writes about his Rucksack tour of Europe in the middle of the 19th century before he did his noteworthy translation of Faust. The book is based upon the collection of newspaper reports he sent home to help finance his trip. Although a sometime tedious book, it provides an excellent feel for life just before the 1848 revolutions. It show more also provides a sense for how close everything in Europe actually is and inspires you to put on your rucksack and follow in his footsteps. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 75
- Also by
- 22
- Members
- 638
- Popularity
- #39,509
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 15
- ISBNs
- 144
- Languages
- 2
- Favorited
- 1
