author
Thomas Sedgwick Steele
1845–1903
An American artist, illustrator, and travel writer, he turned canoe trips, fishing adventures, and outdoor journeys into lively books for 19th-century readers. His work blends a painter’s eye for detail with the practical spirit of an experienced traveler.
2 Audiobooks
Paddle and portage, from Moosehead Lake to Aroostook River, Maine
by Thomas Sedgwick Steele
Canoe and camera : a two hundred mile tour through the Maine forests
by Thomas Sedgwick Steele
About the author
Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1845, Thomas Sedgwick Steele built a varied career as an artist and writer. Reliable library and reference sources describe him as an American illustrator and travel writer, and his published work shows a strong interest in outdoor life, especially canoe travel, sport, and the northern woods.
He is best remembered for books such as Canoe and Camera: A Two Hundred Mile Tour Through the Maine Forests, Paddle and Portage, from Moosehead Lake to the Aroostook River, Maine, and A Voyage to Viking-Land. These titles suggest the range that made him distinctive: part adventure narrative, part observation of landscape and local life, and part visual record from someone who was also an artist.
Steele died in 1903. Though he is not as widely known today as some travel writers of his era, his books still offer an appealing window into 19th-century American outdoor culture, with clear firsthand enthusiasm for exploration, scenery, and life beyond the city.