The French literary historian, musicologist and translator Theodore de Vizeva (1862–1917) was also an outstanding essayist. Among hundreds of biographies and travel reports, he knew how to choose those that would arouse the reader’s interest, and his subtle analysis and deep erudition will allow you to take a fresh look at well-known and unfamiliar historical characters, experience with them the vicissitudes of distant travels and enjoy a fascinating story. A series of amazing people will pass before the reader. Among them are Antonio de Beatis, an inconspicuous little priest, whose travel notes were accidentally discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and which are now referred to by art historians; the grumpy tailor William the Earless, who traveled to many countries and kept pieces of stones from the Labyrinth of Theseus in his chest; Georg Friedrich Parrott, who advised the Russian autocrat; the brilliant scientist Eugene Eram, punished for his crime by having almost all his works forgotten, and many other unusual people.