Memoirs on the Life and Travels of Thomas Hammond, 1748-1775

A lavishly illustrated manuscript from the eighteenth century now being published for the first time, Thomas Hammond's memoirs are a major discovery. Hammond was a self-educated but remarkably gifted writer with a knack for seizing unlikely opportunities for adventure. We follow this abandoned waif as he embarks on a long journey through bewildering foreign lands—working by turns as a stableboy, jockey, servant to French nobles, itinerant circus rider, and entertainment entrepreneur—only to reco