An Innocent Abroad

About the Book

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About the Author

About the Author The author, Henry Ruffner Paine (1832-62), a teacher of Latin and Greek, spent three semesters at the University of Berlin. He kept a three-volume journal of his travels and experiences. Volume I sees Paine settling in as a student in Berlin. He busies himself learning the German language and meeting the other Americans in the German city. The celebration of Washington’s Birthday, Feb. 22, 1860, is a big event, with the Americans not yet divided into two hostile camps. Volume II covers the trip to Italy during the Summer of 1860. Four American travelers are guided by Prof. Henry Drisler of the Columbia College, New York City. With the help of Drisler’s knowledge of Italian and his many personal contacts, the group sees many relics of ancient Rome which ordinary tourists, then and now, do not have access to. They also observe the social and political effects of the War of Italian Unification which was then in progress. In Volume III Paine is back in Berlin where, with the help of the U.S. Minister to Prussia Governor Wright, he meets a number of prominent Germans. He teaches a Sunday School class in the Methodist Mission. And the unsettling news from home causes him to worry about his future. He returned home in the Spring of 1861, joined the local artillery battery, and fell at the Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862. About the Editor Wilmer H. Paine Jr., the great grandnephew of Henry R. Paine, studied for three years at the University of Göttingen, Germany. He has taught history at several colleges and universities, and served as an archivist at Oklahoma State University.