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Rollo in Naples
"What's to be seen at Baiae?" asks Mrs. Gray, puzzled about having lost their guide to another tourist group.
"Nothing but old ruins," says young Rollo. "There are plenty of old ruins at Pompeii, and I don't think we need any guide at all to go. We can go by ourselves!"
"You think so?" says Mrs. Gray.
"Why, I can engage a carriage to take us there myself," says Rollo. "I shall say 'Pompeii!' to the coachman, and point that way. And when we get to Pompeii, we shall find Uncle George there, and then we shall get along well enough!"
"Nothing but old ruins," says young Rollo. "There are plenty of old ruins at Pompeii, and I don't think we need any guide at all to go. We can go by ourselves!"
"You think so?" says Mrs. Gray.
"Why, I can engage a carriage to take us there myself," says Rollo. "I shall say 'Pompeii!' to the coachman, and point that way. And when we get to Pompeii, we shall find Uncle George there, and then we shall get along well enough!"
108 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1858
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About the author
Jacob Abbott
1,323Ìýbooks89ÌýfollowersAbbott was born at Hallowell, Maine to Jacob and Betsey Abbott. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1820; studied at Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, 1822, and 1824; was tutor in 1824-1825, and from 1825 to 1829 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College; was licensed to preach by the Hampshire Association in 1826; founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in Boston in 1829, and was principal of it in 1829-1833; was pastor of Eliot Congregational Church (which he founded), at Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1834-1835; and was, with his brothers, a founder, and in 1843-1851 a principal of Abbott's Institute, and in 1845-1848 of the Mount Vernon School for Boys, in New York City.
He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.
His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine
His brothers, John S.C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.
He was a prolific author, writing juvenile fiction, brief histories, biographies, religious books for the general reader, and a few works in popular science. He died in Farmington, Maine, where he had spent part of his time after 1839, and where his brother, Samuel Phillips Abbott, founded the Abbott School.
His Rollo Books, such as Rollo at Work, Rollo at Play, Rollo in Europe, etc., are the best known of his writings, having as their chief characters a representative boy and his associates. In them Abbott did for one or two generations of young American readers a service not unlike that performed earlier, in England and America, by the authors of Evenings at Home, The History of Sandford and Merton, and the The Parent's Assistant.
Fewacres in 1906, Abbott's residence at Farmington, Maine
His brothers, John S.C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott, were also authors. His sons, Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, both eminent lawyers, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott, a clergyman, were also well-known authors.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 17, 2021
Mr. George finds a woman he can respect! I never would have imagined it was possible! He does get bored and wander off eventually, but the trip to Naples is a success. This story begins, as most of them have been doing, with a description of places and no characters. Finally, Mr. George and Rollo come on the scene. It seems they went to Florence without us. Mr. George is there to see the great art collections. But it is time to move on to Naples and after discussion of the various ways to get to Naples, they decide to hire a vetturino, or carriage and carriage man. However, a vetturino (the carriage, not the man) has six seats and to get adequate bang for their buck, they agree that it would be sensible to find another party with whom to go splitsies, although Rollo is prepared to pay somewhat more but less than full price to a vetturino he meets who is on return. But Mr. George, on his wanderings in the museum, becomes acquainted with an American woman traveling with her two children and a maid who has no lines and goes on no adventures. Mr. George and Rollo agree that Mrs. Gray, Josie, and Rosie would make good traveling companions. Mr. George contracts with the vetturino in French, in case you would like to practice your French, and he also makes a contract with Mrs. Gray and her children, because all traveling parties will quarrel if clear rules are not set at the outset. The contract encompasses things like where the groups will sit in the carriage, who will get the first pick of rooms, and what time they must be ready for breakfast. It is agreed that there will be no excuses about arriving late for breakfast. Mrs. Gray intentionally tests the system on the first morning by arriving late and attempting to make an excuse. The children will not allow it, she is duly fined, and all parties understand that there is no wiggle in the contract. Finally, amid many long explanations of how it is customary to tip Italians but all tips are most easily handled through intermediaries like the vetturino, our friends arrive in Naples. The country around the hotel is described at length but it takes our friends and their new friends quite a long time to finally visit Vesuvius and Pompeii, the highlights. Jacob Abbott is still sure that women don't like ascending heights like mountains (or multiple flights of stairs), but, happily, there are men available to carry women up the mountain in chairs. There are also men with straps who will walk ahead of you up Vesuvius and pull you along with them, which Rollo likes. At the top of the mountain, Mr. George meets two university students with a newfangled barometer that tells a person how high they are above sea level. Mr. George and the students fall into conversation and it is agreed that everyone else will go back to the hotel and Mr. George will camp his way to Pompeii with his new chums. After this, Mr. George and his student friends become obsessed with deciphering Roman inscriptions and blow Rollo and the others off for the rest of the trip. Rollo organizes an excursion to Pompeii with Mrs. Gray and her family, and one to the museum at Naples where all the good stuff from Pompeii is (at the museum, one can see all sides of an ancient vase by rotating them on a spinning stand; how many ancient vases were lost this way?), and another excursion down the coast to a geological feature, Virgil's tomb, and a few other places of interest. Eventually, Mr. George is tired and Rollo takes him to Sorrento to eat oranges, and they leave for Rome in a hurry. Jacob Abbott hit his word count right in the middle of that orchard, so it seems.
Top shelf Rollo book.
Abbott does throw Christianity to the wind here: you should never give charity to the poor in Italy because a) they're faking it, and b) if they are poor, they can go to the poorhouse. Boom. The description of Pompeii lacked detail, considering that it's Pompeii!!!, but this was overall a clever book and I learned how to travel from Florence to Naples by vetturino and what to see when I get there.
Top shelf Rollo book.
Abbott does throw Christianity to the wind here: you should never give charity to the poor in Italy because a) they're faking it, and b) if they are poor, they can go to the poorhouse. Boom. The description of Pompeii lacked detail, considering that it's Pompeii!!!, but this was overall a clever book and I learned how to travel from Florence to Naples by vetturino and what to see when I get there.
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