The Western Avernus

Morley Roberts

Jun 2005 · Cosimo, Inc.

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One of the most literary annals of life in the North American West in the 19th century, The Western Avernus (1887) recounts the treks and toils of a Victorian gentleman abroad in a rough and dangerous land. Singing with a frontier authenticity of hard work, rugged adventure, and restless travel, the book has been likened to Conrad's Heart of Darkness. But it is perhaps best known as a major inspiration for Robert Service, the great Scottish poet of the Yukon, with its exhilarating depictions of work on railroad crews and mountaineering in British Columbia. This new edition brings to light a perspective on North American history little encountered since the book's last printing 80 years ago.AUTHOR BIO: MORLEY ROBERTS (1857-1942), born into a middle-class London family, traveled and worked as a laborer and farmhand in Australia before journeying to the United States in 1884 to begin the odyssey related in The Western Avernus. Among the many works of fiction, essays, and travel books Roberts produced is The Mate of the Vancouver (1892), considered to be the first notable novel of British Columbia.