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Rollo on the Atlantic
Rollo on the Atlantic by Jacob Abbott When Rollo was about twelve years of age, he made a voyage to Europe under rather extraordinary circumstances. He went alone; that is to say, he had no one to take care of him. In fact, in addition to being obliged to take care of himself, he had also his little sister Jane to take care of; for she went with him. The way it happened that two such children were sent to sea on such a long voyage, without any one to have them in charge, was this. Rollo's father and mother had gone to Europe to make a tour, a year before this time, and had taken Rollo's brother Nathan, or Thanny, as Rollo used most frequently to call him, with them. They had gone partly for pleasure, but more especially on account of Mr. Holiday's health, which was not good. It was thought that the voyage, and the recreation and pleasure of travelling in Europe, would be a benefit to him. In certain cases where a person's health is impaired, especially when one is slowly recovering from past sickness, nothing is found to have a more beneficial effect upon the patient than for him to go away somewhere and have a good time. It was determined to try the effect of this remedy upon Mr. Holiday, and so he went to Europe. Mrs. Holiday went with him. They took Thanny too, to be company for them on the way. Thanny was at this time about seven years old. A child of that age, for a travelling companion, is sometimes a source of great pleasure, and sometimes, on the other hand, he is the means of great annoyance and vexation. This depends upon whether he is obedient, patient, quiet, and gentle in his manners and demeanor, or noisy, inconsiderate, wilful, and intractable. A great many children act in such a manner, whenever they take a journey or go out to ride with their parents, that their parents, in self-defence, are obliged to adopt the plan of almost always contriving to leave them behind. It was not so, however, with Nathan. He was an excellent boy in travelling, and always made the ride or the journey more pleasant for those who took him with them. This was the reason why, when it was determined that Mr. and Mrs. Holiday should go to England, that Mrs. Holiday was very desirous that Nathan should go too. And so far as Nathan was concerned, the voyage and the tour proved to be all that Mr. and Mrs. Holiday expected or desired. In regard to other points, however, it was less successful. Mr. Holiday did not improve in health, and he did not have a good time. Mrs. Holiday was anxious about her husband's health, and she was uneasy too at being separated so long from her other two children, -Rollo and little Jane, especially little Jane, -whom she had learned to love as if she were really her daughter. So, before the year was ended, they both heartily wished themselves back in America again. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.
146 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1853
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About the author
Jacob Abbott
1,364 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
September 17, 2025
Originally published in 1841, and oh boy! is that obvious. But Rollo on the Atlantic is enjoyable. The two biggest problems with century-old children's literature: slow pacing and heavy-handed morality, are present, but they don't ruin the pleasant travels of a boy and his young sister steamboating alone across the Atlantic.
Rollo and Jane set out in 1841! 1841! from New York. There are slave catchers running around kidnapping people, the Civil War hasn't been fought yet, the first inter-city telegraph cable won't be laid for another three years, but these kids are going on a steamboat to join their parents in England, because Mr. Holiday needs to tour Europe for his health. So do, I probably.
Rollo and his sister do not have a chance to receive final boat instructions from their uncle because of a luggage mix-up, but they do have a general rule to follow while traveling:
1. Do as you see other people do.
2. When you cannot find out in this way or any other way what to do, do nothing.
This sort of makes sense. It works for Rollo and Jane. No one is going to tell their children this nowadays, because it might lead to kidnapping, but if you're on a steamboat and everyone goes to lunch, go to lunch. Of course, if everyone goes to their state room and you've been instructed to do nothing because you don't know where your state room is, or if you have one, then you're humped until a nice lady named Maria takes you under her wing and explains where the state rooms are.
Rollo on the Atlantic is presented as a not only an entertainment, but as an instruction on how to behave and what to expect if you happen to cross the Atlantic in a steamship. A cursory Google search says that the Cunard line had five new steamships plying the Atlantic from 1840 that carried 140 passengers on an approximately thirteen day trip, and since Rollo's father seems rich, we'll assume that Rollo and Jane are on one of these ships or similar. The ship Rollo travels on still has sails, and sailors manning the rigging, but the steam engine seems to run all the time and the sails provide an assist. The ship is described as "two stories tall" and Jacob Abbott writes a long, weird passage about how ships of that size are too big to truly experience the ocean. "If the passenger feels that his ship has been seized by the terrific power, which he sees raging all around him, and that they are all entirely at his mercy,–that it is sweeping them away over the sea, perhaps into the jaws of destruction, without any possible power of resistance or escape–his mind is filled with the most grand and solemn emotions. Such a flight as this, extending day after day, perhaps for five hundred miles, over a raging sea, is really sublime." Kids these days don't know what it's like to almost die in an out of control sailing ship nowadays. Lousy kids.
Rollo and Jane have a nice, uneventful passage. A lot of adults swing by and explain to them how the ship works, quite interesting. Rollo has a foil, an ill-behaved boy named Hilbert who is punished for his whinging and might become slightly better for being Rollo's acquaintance. There's a ship's lottery–immoral–, and some stormy seas.
Having read this book, I would feel semi-confident about buying a steamship ticket and crossing the Atlantic in 1841. Abbott doesn't tell us where the bathroom is (at the prow? in a chamberpot? what happens if the seas are rough and your chamberpot is full?), or if the lights on an 1841 steamboat are fire, or if gas has been invented, and if so, how do you avoid your gas lights exploding, but this is good stuff. I enjoyed it. I might read further in the Rollo series now, and find out how to travel in Paris.
Rollo and Jane set out in 1841! 1841! from New York. There are slave catchers running around kidnapping people, the Civil War hasn't been fought yet, the first inter-city telegraph cable won't be laid for another three years, but these kids are going on a steamboat to join their parents in England, because Mr. Holiday needs to tour Europe for his health. So do, I probably.
Rollo and his sister do not have a chance to receive final boat instructions from their uncle because of a luggage mix-up, but they do have a general rule to follow while traveling:
1. Do as you see other people do.
2. When you cannot find out in this way or any other way what to do, do nothing.
This sort of makes sense. It works for Rollo and Jane. No one is going to tell their children this nowadays, because it might lead to kidnapping, but if you're on a steamboat and everyone goes to lunch, go to lunch. Of course, if everyone goes to their state room and you've been instructed to do nothing because you don't know where your state room is, or if you have one, then you're humped until a nice lady named Maria takes you under her wing and explains where the state rooms are.
Rollo on the Atlantic is presented as a not only an entertainment, but as an instruction on how to behave and what to expect if you happen to cross the Atlantic in a steamship. A cursory Google search says that the Cunard line had five new steamships plying the Atlantic from 1840 that carried 140 passengers on an approximately thirteen day trip, and since Rollo's father seems rich, we'll assume that Rollo and Jane are on one of these ships or similar. The ship Rollo travels on still has sails, and sailors manning the rigging, but the steam engine seems to run all the time and the sails provide an assist. The ship is described as "two stories tall" and Jacob Abbott writes a long, weird passage about how ships of that size are too big to truly experience the ocean. "If the passenger feels that his ship has been seized by the terrific power, which he sees raging all around him, and that they are all entirely at his mercy,–that it is sweeping them away over the sea, perhaps into the jaws of destruction, without any possible power of resistance or escape–his mind is filled with the most grand and solemn emotions. Such a flight as this, extending day after day, perhaps for five hundred miles, over a raging sea, is really sublime." Kids these days don't know what it's like to almost die in an out of control sailing ship nowadays. Lousy kids.
Rollo and Jane have a nice, uneventful passage. A lot of adults swing by and explain to them how the ship works, quite interesting. Rollo has a foil, an ill-behaved boy named Hilbert who is punished for his whinging and might become slightly better for being Rollo's acquaintance. There's a ship's lottery–immoral–, and some stormy seas.
Having read this book, I would feel semi-confident about buying a steamship ticket and crossing the Atlantic in 1841. Abbott doesn't tell us where the bathroom is (at the prow? in a chamberpot? what happens if the seas are rough and your chamberpot is full?), or if the lights on an 1841 steamboat are fire, or if gas has been invented, and if so, how do you avoid your gas lights exploding, but this is good stuff. I enjoyed it. I might read further in the Rollo series now, and find out how to travel in Paris.
Displaying 1 of 1 review