author
James McFadden Gaston
1824–1903
A 19th-century physician and traveler, he is best remembered for Hunting a Home in Brazil, a lively account of Brazil’s land, people, and possibilities for settlers. His work blends practical observation with the curiosity of someone who had seen several very different worlds.
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About the author
Born in 1824 and dying in 1903, he was an American doctor, surgeon, and writer whose published work ranged from medical topics to travel. Records connected with his books and library catalogs identify him as both a physician and the author of Hunting a Home in Brazil, first published in 1867.
That book grew out of his time in Brazil and presents the country through the eyes of a close observer, with attention to agriculture, daily life, and local customs. It has lasted as his best-known book and is still cataloged and reissued through major public-domain and library collections.
His broader career appears to have centered on medicine as much as literature, with several medical writings also preserved in historical collections. Taken together, his surviving work suggests a practical, wide-ranging mind: part clinician, part traveler, and part interpreter of places for readers back home.