Browse Items (94 total)

Adventures on the Scud is a story written by Arthur Nelson that describes his and his brother's struggle maintaining their ship against the melting ice in the spring. After the boat is hit by falling trees, the boys are left with no other choice but to repair their boat with some helpful donations from the townspeople. The rudimentary hand-writing indicates that Arthur was fairly young when he wrote this story.

"At the Mast" is a story that takes place during 1898--the time of a war between Chipewa and Big Continent. The story focuses on the Captain of the "New York" ship, Harry Nelson—"a great, broad-shouldered sailor, deep of chest and of great muscular ability”—and his ship’s preparation for the Big Continent fleet. Capt. Nelson and the Chipewa soldiers are considered the "underdogs" in this battle, fighting against a much stronger nation

This is an illustrated 12-page story by William J. Little about an attack by three giant birds on Walter Allen, age 12, Otho Strong, age 14, who are rescued by Arthur Little, age 14, aided by Elmer Green (no age given). Walter and Otho are held captive by the ferocious birds in a cave on the mining island of Red Rover for five days before their rescue. The naming pattern in this book fascinatingly combines the boys' real first names with surnames from their fictional "World."

The actions and events in American Family Robinson Vol. 1, especially the children's encounter with a shark, move through all the functions of adventure storytelling, but in an additive manner that seems to miss the logic of the survival narrative. Clearly inspired by works like Swiss Family Robinson (1812) and Robinson Crusoe (1719), this story describes the excitement of navigating wild territory, but without any real sense of risk.

The second Volume of The American Family Robinson is full of many adventures, including Jimmy's construction of infrastructure and dangerous encounters with hyenas and lions. Fearing the many dangers of their home, the family moves to "Alligator Island" where Alice, Jimmy, and Fred are attacked by two bears that emerge from a cave. After defeating the bears (Alice fights as well as the men) they must fend off another lion in order to survive.

"Battle of Poplington” is the first chapter of a war novel written by one of the brothers. It seems a fairly late work with sophisticated drawings and fairly mature handwriting. In this four-page spread, the author places the most emphasis on conveying, in great deal, the particulars of this military campaign. Specific numbers of troops from each of the vying armies are mentioned, and their precise movements before the battle are illustrated in a map on the third page of the manuscript. The characters of William Little and Ethan Allen are both present in the text as competing generals.

This publication, best described as an outdoorsman’s periodical, contains numerous articles, both fictional and non-fictional. There are advertisements for items such as "The Colt's Revolver" and "Bicycles, Guns, Revolvers," as well as a story "Paddle for Life" and a poem "Buffalo Bill Shooting a Buffalo."

The Nelson Brothers' Complete Geography of the World is an illustrative and descriptive explanation of their beloved imaginary world. The book contains maps of each continent and some illustrations even detail the agricultural production of each province within the continents. This book certainly helps readers gain perspective on the brothers' paracosm.

The Complete History of Big Continent provides extensive documentation of the Continent's original settlement, George and Ethan Allen's presidency, and battles with the surrounding continents.

Different Stories contains three stories: "The Fire--or a Brave Woman's Act," a story that highlights the heroics of a mother protecting her family from a fire; "Fire at the Station," a detailed account of the monetary losses after a fire in Allenstown; and "The Great Flood or My Adventure on the River," a story that features a dangerous flood, along with detailed descriptions of the "Hills Brys Damn."