author

A. J. (Alexander James) Duffield

1821–1890

A mining engineer turned travel writer and Spanish scholar, he brought firsthand knowledge of South America into his books and translations. His work ranges from lively accounts of Peru to studies of Cervantes and Don Quixote.

1 Audiobook

Peru in the Guano Age Being a Short Account of a Recent Visit to the Guano Deposits, with Some Reflections on the Money They Have Produced and the Uses to Which It Has Been Applied

Peru in the Guano Age Being a Short Account of a Recent Visit to the Guano Deposits, with Some Reflections on the Money They Have Produced and the Uses to Which It Has Been Applied

by A. J. (Alexander James) Duffield

About the author

Born near Wolverhampton in 1821, Alexander James Duffield first studied with the church in mind, but his life took a different path. After marrying, he went to South America and spent years in Bolivia and Peru working as a mining chemist, experiences that gave him deep knowledge of the region and of the Spanish language.

That blend of technical expertise and literary curiosity shaped his writing. He wrote on South American mining and politics, produced travel-based books such as Peru in the Guano Age, and became especially known as a student and translator of Cervantes, including work connected with Don Quixote.

Duffield also wrote fiction and moved in literary circles in England later in life. He died in 1890, remembered as an unusual Victorian figure whose career joined science, travel, and literature.