Robert Louis Stevenson's 1878 travelogue, An Inland Voyage, details his canoeing trip through France and Belgium in 1876. Pioneering new ground in outdoor literature, this was Stevenson's first book. He had decided to become free from his parent's financial support so that he might freely pursue the woman he loved; to support himself he wrote travelogues, most notably An Inland Voyage, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes and The Silverado Squatters. Stevenson undertook the journey with his friend, Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, at a time when such outdoor travel for leisure was considered unusual and it resulted in this romantic and original work that still inspires travelers today.

We stowed the canoes in a granary, and asked among the children for a guide. The circle at once widened round us, and our offers of reward were received in dispiriting silence. We were plainly a pair of Bluebeards to the children; they might speak to us in public places, and where they had the advantage of numbers; but it was another thing to venture off alone with two uncouth and legendary characters, who had dropped from the clouds upon their hamlet this quiet afternoon, sashed and beknived, and with a flavor of great voyages.-from "Pont-sur-Sambre: We Are Peddlers"The sly wit and keenly observant eye that makes Robert Louis Stevenson a continuing favorite with readers is in full force in this 1913 volume, a compilation of two of the writer's least known but most purely enjoyable works. In 1876, Stevenson canoed through Belgium and France with his friend, Sir Walter Simpson, an exploit that resulted in the delightful An Inland Voyage; two years later, he took a walking tour of the C vannes, which became Travels with a Donkey. More that just wonderfully escapist, these essays offer a glimpse into the mind and memories of an author's imagination, and serve as a vital psychological backdrop for the tales of adventure, romance, and horror related in Stevenson's fiction.OF INTEREST TO: Stevenson fans, armchair travelers, readers of classic British literatureAlso available from Cosimo Classics: Stevenson's Across the Plains: With Other Memories and Essays.

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On 23 September 1878 Stevenson set out from Le Monastier in the Haut Loire, to tramp through the wild region of the Cevennes. His only companion was a small donkey to carry basic necessities, and a commodious "sleeping sack". In the next 12 days, at a pace dictated by the donkey and carrying most of the supplies himself, he travelled 120 miles across rivers, mountains and forests. His stylish and witty account was published in 1879.