Little Bobtail

Little Bobtail is one of Oliver Optic’s many novels for boys in his nautical adventure series, with the Little Bobtail of the title being either a particular vessel name or a nickname for the young protagonist. Optic uses both vessel and character names in this manner across his nautical fiction, with the standard moral and character development of the wider Optic catalogue framed within the sailing setting.

Oliver Optic was the pen name of William Taylor Adams, a Massachusetts writer who became one of the most prolific producers of boys’ fiction in mid to late nineteenth century America with more than a hundred novels. His nautical fiction was popular both for its adventure content and for the practical sailing knowledge that young readers absorbed through the plots.

For scholars of nineteenth century American children’s literature, of nautical fiction for young readers, or of the wider career of Oliver Optic, the various novels in his catalogue are essential. Many are now in the public domain.