Benjamin Franklin Taylor (b. 1822) was a prominent poet, memoirist, novelist, and newspaperman who worked in Chicago in the mid-nineteenth century and whose writing addressed a wide range of topics. In THE WORLD ON WHEELS AND OTHER SKETCHES (copyright 1874), he wrote of travel in a light, charming manner that verges on the harum-scarum. There's nothing serious here, just a lot of shrewd observation about denizens of the nineteenth-century in the U.S. who - for one reason or another - needed to get from here to somewhere else. In this very interesting section of the book, Taylor - who was born and grew up in New York - writes of the Erie Canal's maiden dedication trip at which DeWitt Clinton, visionary New York politician and chief promoter of the enterprise, played a starring role. Taylor then goes on to give his observations of a journey he took when young on the Erie Canal. A well-drawn frontispiece that served as the title page for the 1874 book is included, as is a biographical sketch of the author and a note about the publisher. Circa 1550 words (not including author-publisher material).