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Book in the collection

The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland

by Thomas W. Knox

The Work

First published
1891
Original publisher
Harper & Brothers
Originally published in
New York

Drew's Copy

Edition
1891 Harper & Brothers edition
Publisher
Harper & Brothers
Published in
New York
Copy published
1891
Binding
Decorated olive-green cloth hardcover with gilt and red Celtic-style stamping
Collection status
On the shelves
Reading status
Owned
Condition
Good; moderate rubbing and edge wear, bumped corners, wear and fraying at the spine ends, and weakness along the front hinge; the decorated binding, route map, color plate, and text block survive
Travel LiteratureAdventure FictionGreat BritainIrelandScotlandWalesEnglandNineteenth Century

Acquisition & Provenance

Acquired
March 9, 2026
Acquisition type
Purchased
Source
eBay
Seller
aardvarkrarebooks
Item price
$70.00
Order total
$74.90
Delivered
March 17, 2026

How This Copy Came to the Library

Drew purchased this copy on eBay from aardvarkrarebooks on March 9, 2026. The book itself cost $70, and the order total was $74.90. It was delivered on March 17.

Why This Book Is in My Library

This volume extends Drew’s Boy Travellers shelf into Great Britain and Ireland and is especially valued for its elaborate binding and early family inscription.

Place in My Physical Library

This volume stands with Drew’s growing shelf of Thomas W. Knox travel and adventure books, between The Boy Travellers in Mexico and The Boy Traveller in Northern Europe.

About This Copy

The title page identifies this as the 1891 Harper & Brothers edition of The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England, with Visits to the Hebrides and the Isle of Man. The copyright notice is dated 1890.

The olive-green cloth binding is among the most elaborate on Drew’s Knox shelf. Its broad gilt and red design draws on interlaced Celtic ornament, visually distinguishing the volume from the pictorial bindings used elsewhere in the series. Inside, the copy retains a route map of Ireland marked in red and a color architectural plate.

Its clearest piece of provenance is a handwritten Christmas inscription: “Dana C. Hyde, Christmas 1892, from Papa.” Written only a year after publication, it records the book’s early life as a family gift and connects this particular copy to the nineteenth-century child for whom it was purchased.

This ornate 1891 volume preserves its Ireland route map, color plate, and a Christmas inscription written for its first known young owner.

Part of a CollectionThe Boy Travellers

Nine Boy Travellers volumes by Thomas W. Knox, collected as artifacts of American travel writing, childhood reading, and the rapidly changing world of the 1880s and 1890s.

Explore the collection
Drew's Copy
Front cover of Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland
The olive-green cloth front cover with its elaborate gilt and red Celtic-style ornament.
Shelf and spine of Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland
The Great Britain and Ireland volume on Drew's shelf of Thomas W. Knox books.
Title page of Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland
The title page records the 1891 Harper & Brothers publication.
Copyright page of Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland
The 1890 copyright notice beneath a contemporary catalogue of Knox's travel books.
Illustration of Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland
A surviving color architectural plate combining a cathedral, bridge, and mountain landscape.
Physical detail of Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Great Britain and Ireland
Physical detail
In the Same Series
Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in the Levant The Levant Drew's 1895 copy Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Northern Europe Northern Europe Drew's 1892 copy Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in Mexico Mexico Drew's 1890 copy Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers on the Congo The Congo Drew's 1888 copy Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire Russian Empire Drew's 1887 copy Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part First: Japan and China Japan and China Drew's Undated; in circulation by Christmas 1892 copy Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fourth: Egypt and the Holy Land Egypt and the Holy Land Drew's Undated copy Drew's copy of The Boy Travellers in South America South America Drew's 1886 copy
More by This Author
Drew's copy of The Young Nimrods Around the World The Young Nimrods Around the World Drew's 1882 copy