James Holman

author

James Holman

1786–1857

A naval officer turned globe-trotting writer, he kept traveling after losing his sight and became famous as the "Blind Traveller." His journeys carried him across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and his books turned careful observation into vivid adventure.

2 Audiobooks

A Voyage Round the World, Volume I Including Travels in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America, etc., etc., from 1827 to 1832

A Voyage Round the World, Volume I Including Travels in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America, etc., etc., from 1827 to 1832

by James Holman

The narrative of a journey undertaken in the years 1819, 1820 and 1821 through France, Italy, Savoy, Switzerland, parts of Germany bordering on the Rhine, Holland and the Netherlands : comprising incidents that occurred to the author, who has long suffered under a total deprivation of sight; with various points of information collected on his tour

The narrative of a journey undertaken in the years 1819, 1820 and 1821 through France, Italy, Savoy, Switzerland, parts of Germany bordering on the Rhine, Holland and the Netherlands : comprising incidents that occurred to the author, who has long suffered under a total deprivation of sight; with various points of information collected on his tour

by James Holman

About the author

Born in Exeter in 1786, James Holman entered the Royal Navy as a boy and later became a lieutenant. Serious illness ended his naval career, and he gradually lost his sight in early adulthood.

Instead of retreating from the world, he reinvented himself as an independent traveler and writer. Traveling with remarkable determination, he explored widely and became known as the "Blind Traveller." He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, a sign of the respect he earned in his lifetime.

Holman wrote books drawn from his journeys, describing the people, places, and daily life he encountered with unusual attention and curiosity. He died in London in 1857, but his story still stands out as one of the most extraordinary travel lives of the nineteenth century.