97 ALS & 1 AL to Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston, and Mary (Mee) Temple, Viscountess Palmerston, Various locations, 9 July 1788 - 7 November 1804.

Marlborough, Wiltshire : Adam Matthew Digital, 2009.

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Travel and exploration were among the primary interests of Blagden and the Palmerstons, and many of the letters in their long correspondence give notes on travel and travellers, including: Blagden's 1788 journey to Cherbourg, notes on the travels of Arthur Young in France and of a number of explorers in America; the return from Rome of James Byres; news from the English community in Naples including the scandal over the presentation at Caserta of Emma Hart, Lady Hamilton, and a description by Sir William Hamilton of the eruption of Vesuvius; the travels in the East of William George Browne; Lord Macartney in China; news of Frances Bowdler and Georgiana Hare-Naylor and of Mr & Mrs Douglas in Italy. The collection contains three letters written during the 1792-1793 Italian tour taken by Palmerston and Blagden, with notes on volcanoes and the Campi Phlegraei, travel in the Roman Campagna, Naples and Caserta, Terracina, Velletri, and Terni. These letters were written during the times when Blagden and Palmerston travelled separately to different parts of Italy. These letters mention Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick; Thomas Jenkins; Hannah Gore, Lady Cowper; Georgiana (Spencer) Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire; et al. One of the letters also has pencilled notes on works of art, possibly by Palmerston. Blagden returned from Italy before Palmerston, but a number of the letters written while the latter was still in Italy refer to life there, and mention Edward Daniel Clarke; Mr & Mrs Abbot; Mr Townshend (perhaps Thomas Townshend); Henrietta Frances (Spencer), Countess Bessborough; Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford; Andrew Lumisden; Colin Morison; Alessandro Volta; a Graves, perhaps George Graves; and Sir Robert Herries. The letters also contain a wealth of miscellaneous information on other travellers, on the French Revolution and (later) on the advance of the Napoleonic armies, on mutual friends (for example, Sir Joshua Reynolds), and in general on the cultural, artistic, scientific, and social life in London.

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October 25, 2023

Grand tours (Education) > History > 18th century.

Personal correspondence

Adam Matthew Digital (Firm), digitiser.