Author: | Horatio Alger, Jr. | ISBN: | 1230002966229 |
Publisher: | Steve Gabany | Publication: | December 2, 2018 |
Imprint: | Language: | English |
Author: | Horatio Alger, Jr. |
ISBN: | 1230002966229 |
Publisher: | Steve Gabany |
Publication: | December 2, 2018 |
Imprint: | |
Language: | English |
After focusing almost exclusively on the U. S. East Coast, and more specifically, New York city, Horatio Alger, Jr. began setting his novels in the American West. In this way, he hoped to increase book sales and to suggest a new way for young men to succeed outside city life. Perhaps lacking sufficient drama to satisfy Alger's audience, he moved away from frontier farming to the unending action and adventure of the California Gold Rush.
Alger's four-volume Pacific Series follows two young men trying their hands at gold mining: in the first two volumes, Tom Nelson seeks his fortune in order to pay off his father's $2,000 farm mortgage, which is close to being repossessed. In the second two volumes, Ben Stanton is alone in the world. With a small grub-stake from his father's estate, he determines to strike it rich in the rough and tumble world of gold mining. All four books are chock-full of action, adventure and non-stop drama.
1. The Young Adventurer: Tom's Trip Across The Plains - the initial volume of the Pacific Series presents the story of Tom Nelson, who aspires to help his father meet a $2,000 mortgage by making his fortune in the California gold fields.
2. The Young Miner: Tom Nelson Out West - in the second book in the series, Tom continues in his attempt to earn enough money to save his father's farm from being repossessed. Tom accumulates and loses his nest egg more than once.
3. The Young Explorer: Among the Sierras - Ben Stanton is alone. He has realized $365.19, a princely sum in the 1880s, from his father's estate. Ben decides to go to California and search for gold. As Ben comes to learn, "all that glitters is not gold!"
4. Ben's Nugget: A Boy's Search for Fortune - in the fourth and last volume of the series, Ben is searching for an almost-mythical huge gold nugget. While Ben may be considered rather young for a miner, in fact many teens and even younger boys drifted to the gold-fields in the early days of California.
Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, best known for his many formulaic juvenile novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which had a formative effect on America during the Gilded Age.
After focusing almost exclusively on the U. S. East Coast, and more specifically, New York city, Horatio Alger, Jr. began setting his novels in the American West. In this way, he hoped to increase book sales and to suggest a new way for young men to succeed outside city life. Perhaps lacking sufficient drama to satisfy Alger's audience, he moved away from frontier farming to the unending action and adventure of the California Gold Rush.
Alger's four-volume Pacific Series follows two young men trying their hands at gold mining: in the first two volumes, Tom Nelson seeks his fortune in order to pay off his father's $2,000 farm mortgage, which is close to being repossessed. In the second two volumes, Ben Stanton is alone in the world. With a small grub-stake from his father's estate, he determines to strike it rich in the rough and tumble world of gold mining. All four books are chock-full of action, adventure and non-stop drama.
1. The Young Adventurer: Tom's Trip Across The Plains - the initial volume of the Pacific Series presents the story of Tom Nelson, who aspires to help his father meet a $2,000 mortgage by making his fortune in the California gold fields.
2. The Young Miner: Tom Nelson Out West - in the second book in the series, Tom continues in his attempt to earn enough money to save his father's farm from being repossessed. Tom accumulates and loses his nest egg more than once.
3. The Young Explorer: Among the Sierras - Ben Stanton is alone. He has realized $365.19, a princely sum in the 1880s, from his father's estate. Ben decides to go to California and search for gold. As Ben comes to learn, "all that glitters is not gold!"
4. Ben's Nugget: A Boy's Search for Fortune - in the fourth and last volume of the series, Ben is searching for an almost-mythical huge gold nugget. While Ben may be considered rather young for a miner, in fact many teens and even younger boys drifted to the gold-fields in the early days of California.
Horatio Alger, Jr. (January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was a prolific 19th-century American author, best known for his many formulaic juvenile novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage, and honesty. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which had a formative effect on America during the Gilded Age.