The 19th-Century Race Around the World That Changed Journalism Forever

Executive Summary

• In 1889, rival newspapers sponsored a high-profile race around the world, sending two female journalists in opposite directions to beat the fictional 80-day journey from Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days.
• Elizabeth Bisland, a literary editor known for her refined prose and intellectual life, reluctantly entered the race and documented the journey in a series of articles later published as In Seven Stages.
• Unlike her competitor, who embraced publicity, Bisland approached the journey as a reflective travel experience, emphasizing landscape, sensation, and literary observation over spectacle.
• The race became a media sensation, illustrating the rise of modern journalism, celebrity culture, and public fascination with speed, global travel, and women’s expanding roles.
• Despite completing the journey in 76 days—faster than the fictional benchmark—Bisland lost the race but later produced significant literary and feminist work, choosing a life largely outside public fame.

FAQ

;1. What was the 1889 race around the world between journalists?
It was a publicity-driven competition organized by rival newspapers in which two female journalists traveled in opposite directions to circumnavigate the globe faster than the 80 days imagined by Jules Verne.

2. Who was Elizabeth Bisland?

Elizabeth Bisland was an American journalist and literary editor for The Cosmopolitan who became widely known after participating in the 1889 race around the world and later publishing her account in In Seven Stages.

3. How did Elizabeth Bisland’s journey differ from her competitor’s?

Bisland treated the trip as a reflective journey rather than a race, focusing on descriptive writing, landscapes, and cultural impressions, while her competitor embraced speed, publicity, and media attention.

4. How long did Elizabeth Bisland take to travel around the world?

She completed the journey in 76 days, beating the fictional 80-day benchmark but finishing four days behind her competitor.

5. Why was the race significant for journalism history?

The event demonstrated the growing power of mass media, the use of spectacle to drive readership, and the emergence of journalists as public figures in a rapidly modernizing media landscape.

6. What impact did the race have on Elizabeth Bisland’s life?

Although it brought her widespread fame, Bisland largely rejected celebrity culture, avoided public appearances, and continued her career as a writer and editor, later producing essays and books on literature and women’s roles.

7. What is In Seven Stages and why is it important?

In Seven Stages is Bisland’s published account of her journey, valued for its lyrical prose and its perspective on travel, perception, and the experience of a rapidly changing global world.

Read the full article “The 19th-Century Race Around the World That Changed Journalism Forever” by Matthew Goodman

🔭   This summary was human-edited with AI-assist.