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Rollo in Geneva
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As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
228 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1856
10 people want to read
About the author
Jacob Abbott
1,371 books89 followersAbbott was born at Hallowell, Maine to Jacob and Betsey Abbott. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in Boston in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829-1833; was pastor of Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843-1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845-1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City.
He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.
His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine
His brothers, John S.C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.
He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.
His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine
His brothers, John S.C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 13, 2020
If a vacation is long enough, there comes a time when you need to relax and stop traveling. You need to talk to the locals, start collecting stamps, walk around and take a picture of every cat you see, but if you keep dogging the tourist path, you'll end up standing on the bank of a clear river and watching a muddy tributary flow into it, and that will be your excitement for the week. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday should've skipped Geneva. They would have been better off spending some downtime in Scotland. And where are Jenny and Thanny? They just dumped them off somewhere in Europe, so they don't have to squish them onto the diligence. We know Mr. George is probably off somewhere where he can't bring Rollo and is glad of the lack of company. He's definitely having a dry spell and I'd assume he's taken this opportunity to go wherever the best red light district is and discreetly get his rocks off without acknowledging it to himself. Weird, sensible misogynist. So Rollo and Mr. and Mrs. Holiday take a diligence, but we already had an entire chapter about diligences back when Rollo went to what is now Switzerland the first time. Diligences are cool, but I've referenced that wikipedia page already. Let's do something new!
"The domestic conducted the party through a wood, and showed them a tree which Voltaire had planted. It was now a great size, and apparently far advanced in age. Rollo took very little interest in the tree, and even his father and mother did not appear to pay much attention to it."
This is Geneva. They visit a house where Voltaire stayed, they see some castles, they comment on the hotel, they see the Arne flow into the Rhine. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday are phoning it in, and they give Rollo some responsibility, but their trip is so low key that there's hardly a way to busy him with responsibility. They watch Mont Blanc "go out" in a boat and a little girl chooses Rollo as a default playmate. Mr. Holiday tries to wrangle out of a boating trip he's promised Rollo that ends up delighting him but it's offscreen. And Mrs. Holiday insists that she can't possibly walk a mile or two, which I think is cover for Mr. Holiday's infirmity, which is why everyone is in Europe in the first place.
"It is more more agreeable to make the excursion by an afternoon boat than by a morning one; for in the afternoon, the sun, being then in the western part of the sky, will be behind you and will not shine in your face... It is often very important to take notice thus of the manner in which the sun shines in different parts of the day, in planning excursions among the Alps."
Travel advice.
This book is unnecessary and I hope these books get better, although by now the whole Holiday family is burned out and needs a vacation from their vacation. At least they learn that it's okay to spend some time in the gift shop.
"The domestic conducted the party through a wood, and showed them a tree which Voltaire had planted. It was now a great size, and apparently far advanced in age. Rollo took very little interest in the tree, and even his father and mother did not appear to pay much attention to it."
This is Geneva. They visit a house where Voltaire stayed, they see some castles, they comment on the hotel, they see the Arne flow into the Rhine. Mr. and Mrs. Holiday are phoning it in, and they give Rollo some responsibility, but their trip is so low key that there's hardly a way to busy him with responsibility. They watch Mont Blanc "go out" in a boat and a little girl chooses Rollo as a default playmate. Mr. Holiday tries to wrangle out of a boating trip he's promised Rollo that ends up delighting him but it's offscreen. And Mrs. Holiday insists that she can't possibly walk a mile or two, which I think is cover for Mr. Holiday's infirmity, which is why everyone is in Europe in the first place.
"It is more more agreeable to make the excursion by an afternoon boat than by a morning one; for in the afternoon, the sun, being then in the western part of the sky, will be behind you and will not shine in your face... It is often very important to take notice thus of the manner in which the sun shines in different parts of the day, in planning excursions among the Alps."
Travel advice.
This book is unnecessary and I hope these books get better, although by now the whole Holiday family is burned out and needs a vacation from their vacation. At least they learn that it's okay to spend some time in the gift shop.
Displaying 1 of 1 review