A lavishly illustrated manuscript from the eighteenth century now being published for the first time, Thomas Hammond's memoirs are a major discovery. Hammond was a self-educated but remarkably gifted writer with a knack for seizing unlikely opportunities for adventure. We follow this abandoned waif as he embarks on a long journey through bewildering foreign lands--working by turns as a stableboy, jockey, servant to French nobles, itinerant circus rider, and entertainment entrepreneur--only to recover his home and father at the end of his travels.

Personal narratives by the...