Release date is 2026-05-22

Chris Miceli and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

"Six months in America, vol. 1 (of 2)" by Godfrey Thomas Vigne is a travel narrative written in the early 19th century. It chronicles a brisk, observant tour through the United States, blending scenes of city life, manners, politics, art, industry, and wild landscapes with the eye of a sporting gentleman and sketching traveler.

The opening of the work follows an English traveler crossing the Atlantic to New York, where he notes the harbor forts, Broadway bustle, elegant ships, museums, theaters, and small breaches of etiquette. He then moves toward Philadelphia via New Jersey—calling on Joseph Bonaparte at Bordentown—before surveying Philadelphia’s grid, institutions, water-works, art academy, penitentiary system of solitary confinement, museums, navy yard, and the national bank debate. Choosing Pennsylvania’s interior over a Mississippi voyage, he rides to Harrisburg and along the Susquehanna and Juniata, reflecting on Indian tumuli and origins, trout streams, and a strenuous Allegheny trek rich in trees, wildlife, and frontier lore (including snakes and remedies). He visits an English-led settlement at Philipsburg, notes beaver-meadow farms, ironworks, and planned railways and coal, then returns via the Susquehanna to Northumberland and Sunbury—musing on primogeniture and country seats—before continuing by canal and bay to Baltimore, where monuments, the cathedral, and French paintings close this first stretch of the journey. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: London: Whittaker, Treacher, & Co., 1832