Friedrich Gerstäcker
Gerstäcker, Friedrich (Hamburg, 1816-72, Brunswick), the son of an operatic tenor, went to the USA in 1837, where he lived a chequered life, plying many trades, including those of hunter in the backwoods, stoker, lumberjack, silversmith, and cook. After six years he returned to Germany and wrote his first and best-known novel of American life, Die Regulatoren in Arkansas (3 vols., 1845). This was followed by Die Flußpiraten des Mississippi (3 vols., 1848). Between 1849 and 1852 Gerstäcker made a grand tour of North and South America and Australasia; he revisited South America in 1860-1. During the intervals between these voyagings he lived in Saxony, publishing novels, including Tahiti, Roman aus der Südsee (1854), Die beiden Sträflinge, an Australian story (3 vols., 1856), Gold, sub-titled Kalifornisches Lebensbild (3 vols., 1858), and Unter dem Äquator (3 vols., 1860). His novels of adventure include also Die Kolonie (1864), Unter den Penchuenchen (3 vols., 1867), Die Blauen und die Gelben, set in Venezuela (1870), and In Mexico (1871).
By the early 1860s Gerstäcker had acquired a reputation as a traveller; in 1862 he accompanied the Duke of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha to Egypt and Abyssinia. He made a final journey to North and Central America in 1867-8 before settling in Brunswick. His reputation rested chiefly on his keenly observed and lively descriptions of exotic lands and manners, but he also had some success with novels of German life, including Der Wahnsinnige (1853), Der Kunstreiter (1861), and Die Franktireurs (1871). His best books continued to be much read, well into the 20th c. His Gesammelte Schriften (1872-9) occupy 44 vols; 22 vols. of
