author
William Edward Frye
1784–1853
A British army major turned literary traveler, he left behind vivid recollections of Europe just after Waterloo and later translated Norse-inspired poetry into both English and French. His work offers a curious mix of soldierly observation, travel writing, and early fascination with Scandinavian myth.
1 Audiobook
After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819
by William Edward Frye
About the author
Born in 1784, William Edward Frye was a British military officer who was later described as a former major of infantry in the British service. He is best remembered for After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel, 1815–1819, a travel memoir based on journeys through Europe in the years immediately following Napoleon's defeat.
Frye also worked as a translator and man of letters. He translated Adam Oehlenschläger's The Gods of the North into English verse, and he published Trois chants de l’Edda in French, showing a strong interest in Norse literature and mythology. Those books suggest a writer who moved comfortably between military experience, travel observation, and literary culture.
Some catalog records list his death in 1853, while material connected with the later publication of After Waterloo reports that he died in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1858. Because the dates do not fully agree across the sources consulted here, it is safest to say that he died in the 1850s. No suitable confirmed portrait image was found during this search.