ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY


Browne, J. Ross. An American Family in Germany. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1866.

A thinly veiled fictional account of the Browne family and their stay in Europe from 1860 to 1863.

________. Crusoe's Island: A Ramble in the Footsteps of Alexander Selkirk. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1864.

A tale of J. Ross Browne's excursion by longboat from the ship Anteus to the island of Juan Fernandez in 1849. The story of Robinson Crusoe had been one of Browne's favorite books as a child, which led to his adventure. The second half of the book is about Browne's travels in California.

________. Etchings of A Whaling Cruise. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1968.

Browne's first published book tells the story of his experiences as a hired mate on a whaling ship in 1842-1843. He also details his stay on the island of Zanzibar.

________. The Land of Thor. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1867.

A travel diary, written in the style of Yusef, detailing Browne's trip along the Artic Circle from St. Petersburg through Norway to Iceland in 1861.

________. Yusef, or The Journey of the Frangi: A Crusade in the East. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1871.

This travel journal details, in a humorous fashion, the trip taken by Browne to the Holy Land in 1859. Browne strives to draw verbal pictures for the reader of the events and places experienced during his journey.

Browne, J. Ross et al. Comstock Bonanza: Western Americana. ed. Duncan Emrich. New York: The Vanguard Press, 1950.


This compilation of stories about the West by a variety of writers describes the mining heyday of the 1860's. Each story is preceded by a brief biography of the author.

J. Ross Browne: His Letter, Journals and Writings. ed. Lina Fergusson Browne. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1969.

Ms. Browne, the granddaughter-in-law of J. Ross, has compiled and edited a collection of his letters to his wife and family while on his travels. The book also contains excerpts and drawings from his books, as well as a biography of J. Ross Browne.

De Nyse, Diane R. J. Ross Browne and Mark Twain: The Question of Literary Influence. Laramie: University of Wyoming, 1965.

A thesis written by the author explaining her contention that Browne and Twain developed separately in their writing styles.

Dillon, Richard H. J. Ross Browne: Confidential Agent in Old California. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965.

Richard Dillon believes Browne has been denied the fame to which he is due. This book is his attempt to shed more light on J. Ross Browne, and in particular, the years of 1854-1857.

Goodman, David Michael. A Western Panorama 1849-1875: The travels, writings and influence of J. Ross Browne on the Pacific Coast, and in Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Baja California, as the first Mining Commissioner, and Minister to China. Glendale, California: The Arthur Clark Company, 1966.

This author strives to prove that Browne has been under-appreciated for his role in the history of the West. It contains a detailed itinerary of his travels and work through the years mentioned in the title.



Ljungquist, Kent P., ed. Nineteenth-Century American Fiction Writers, vol. 202 of the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale Research Company,1999.

The Dictionary of Literary Biography is organized by topic, period, or genre. This volume contains brief biographies of 19th century American fiction writers not discussed in other volumes.

Obenzinger, Hilton. American Palestine: Melville, Twain,and the Holy Land Mania. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.

A study of the American "obsession" with the Holy Land in the nineteenth century. It focuses on Melville's Clarel and Twain's Innocents Abroad.

Rather, Lois. J. Ross Browne, Adventurer. Oakland, California: The Rather Press, 1978.

This limited edition, author-printed biography gives a very brief outline of Browne's life. It focuses mainly on his time in the American West.

Rock, Francis J. J. Ross Browne: A Biography. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1929.

This biography of Browne was developed from interviews with J. Ross?s only surviving son as well as from the works of Browne himself. Rock was not given access to the private letters available to later writers.

Twain, Mark. The Innocents Abroad or the New Pilgrims' Progress. New York: The Heritage Press, 1962.

Twain's travel journal of his trip to the Holy Land in 1867. It is written in a satirical comparable to Browne?s work fifteen years earlier.

Vogel, Lester I. To See a Promised Land: Americans and the Holy Land in the Nineteenth Century. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University
Press, 1993.

An analysis of pre-1918 travel by Americans through the area known as Palestine, Zion, or the Holy Land. It is divided into sections relating to eras and the reasons most Americans went to the Promised Land, such as pilgrimages, evangelism, and colonies.

Walker, Franklin Dickerson. Irreverent Pilgrims: Melville, Browne, and Mark Twain in the Holy Land. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1974.

This author uses the writings of Melville, Browne, and Twain to guide the reader through Palestine. These writers were not traditional pilgrims but traveled to many of the same places, and Walker compares their individual reactions.