Diary of a tour on the Continent.

Europe, 1875 July.

1 v. (132 pages) ; 16 cm.

English

Manuscript diary, in a single hand, of a tour taken in July 1875 to the Netherlands, Germany, Bohemia, and Austria. The diarist is unidentified; on the first page he notes that he travels with a party of four ("Clare, J., H., & self"), and with a Mr. and Mrs. Bonner. The travels do not start well, as “a large party of Americans (33) under the escort of one of Cook's agents filled nearly all the 1st class carriages” on their train to Harwich. It is their first trip abroad, at least to Holland, which looked “just as one knew it would--long stretches of dead sandy flats, the sand looking almost as white as chalk, windmills everywhere.” However they eye the Dutch with some suspicion, for they were looking at their luggage “so closely and longingly” that they might have been relieved of the trouble of carrying it. In Rotterdam they visit the museum and view paintings by Rembrandt, before travelling on to Utrecht, and through Europe. They go to concerts, on numerous museum excursions, to the opera to see Fidelio, and record their hotels and dining.

August 16, 2012

Diaries.