POETS BAZAAR, A: A Journey to Greece, Turkey & Up the Danube

By Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen, although best known for his masterly fairy tales, was also a travel writer of renown. In 1840 he began a journey that was to take him to Italy, Malta, Greece and the Ottoman Empire. From Constantinople, he went daringly north along the shores of the Black Sea and made his way back to Vienna by sailing up the Danube. Quite a feat.

In 1842 he published the best of his travel chronicles, A Poet's Bazaar. It is a vivid, colorful and highly personal account that easily carries the readers along to then exotic ports of call in another age of travel. Those who only know Anderson as the author of The Ugly Duckling and The Red Shoes may also find him to be the ideal travel writer.

Michael Kesend (1988)