Does anyone know of a reference to the phrase "exceptional adventure" or "great adventure" or any other synonym to the word "exceptional" that appears in any kind of publication (novel, penny novel, essay, article, pamphlet, etc) that was published before 1903? Or, where might I look for this? Google and Bing have not been my friends on this and I'm at a loss where to look further. Thanks!
Peter Pan was my first guess (for "dying will be an awfully big adventure"), but unfortunately, that hits just after (1904 for the play). A search of Giga Quotes (a great but horribly addictive website) gives these: * * * * * and now expecting Each hour their great adventurer, from the search Of foreign words. - John Milton, Paradise Lost (bk. X, l. 439) Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. - Helen Adams Keller (NB: No date. Keller was born in 1880, so it is possible this predates your cutoff, but unlikely.) There is a fire And motion of the soul, which will not dwell In its own narrow being, but aspire Beyond the fitting medium of desire; And, but once kindled, quenchless evemore, Preys upon high adventure, nor can tire Of aught but rest; a fever at the core, Fatal to him who bears, to all who ever bore. - Lord Byron (George Gordon Noel Byron) I would search at that site for more apt quotes--those are what I found from a literal read of your question, but if you search the 'adventure,' 'daring,' and 'bravery' categories of Giga Quotes (for instance), you should come up with some more. No dates are given, but in most cases, you can determine whether the person predates 1903 with Wikipedia.
There's the Grand Tour, the trip taken by English men to visit the ruins of Greece and Rome through the 18th and 19th centuries...but the phrase 'Grand Adventure' doesn't really ring any bells.
One man. Jules Verne I'm guessing any of his novels remarked on some kind of great adventure, and they were all before 1903.
'exceptional' doesn't go well with 'adventure' imo... and i'm pretty sure i've never come across that combo in six and a half decades of reading the works of writers from homer on... why do you need such a term?
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Giga quotes is awesome. Addicting, but awesome. Why do I need this... the MC of my current mystery novel often refers to her actions as the "grand adventure". This concept of a great journey/time of her life/once in a lifetime experience (ie, "grand adventure", in the semi-vernacular of the early 1900's), is a motivating force behind much of the MC's behavior. Her character is very intelligent, and I like the idea of this phrase being something she read that's influenced her outlook on life and her world.
then 'grand adventure' is the best way to go, imo, since it's a fairly common expression and often found in works of the past...
for some reason I am thinking Pooh and Piglet had an exceedingly fine adventure or something like that. I'd flick through Little Women series and What Katy Did series, possibly Heidu. They had adventures and Amy March went on a European Tour can't remember what it was called, In What Katy Did Next also goes on a tour. They might have ideas. They were written in the 1860-80s, Also Tom Sawyer Personally I like exceptional adventure, something about it feels Enid Blyton, Could imagine going on the adventure with cucumber sandwiches, lashings of ginger beer and a butterfly net strapped to the back of your bike all to torture and capture a criminal who is stealing your Aunt;s best rhubarb jam lol
Exceptional adventure makes me think of Excellent Adventure, which I'm sure is not quite what you're going for...
yup but the Famous Five, Adventurous Four, Secret Seven etc had their most excellent adventures just a few years before lol I can't remember if she used it in print but it was certainly used in Radio and Audio Tapes.
