Browse Items (45 total)

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As a historian of his birthplace, Migliore celebrates the grandeur of Florence in this elegant guidebook.

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As this page vividly illustrates, Vesuvius continued to be quite active after Raymond's visit. Published in Naples for an English audience, this book represents the nineteenth-century traveller's increasingly scientific interests.

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Not only does this pamphlet's content affirm that tourism can be local, but the poem by Thomas Bracken praises our local attractions over a selection of the European highlights.

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This image of Canongate during a royal procession highlights Edinburgh's loyalty to the monarch as well as its impressive modernity. Scotland was no longer the potentially rebellious or poverty-stricken northern neighbour of earlier accounts.

This…

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This curious book proved very popular in its day, perhaps because a traveller following its prescriptions could be sure of returning with much new knowledge and a broader understanding of the world. That is, if he survived the cool reactions of the…

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Although the tower of Pisa was already leaning by its completion date in 1370, not all seventeenth-century pictures show the slant as clearly as this one. From a family of booksellers, engravers, typographers and cartographers, Pietro Bertelli drew…

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While Boswell's impressive volume is more historical and topographical than Gilpin or Combe, his title reveals the emphasis readers and publishers placed on the 'views'. The 'pleasing effect' of St. Michael's Mount and its 'agreeable' situation with…

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By the second half of the eighteenth century, the grand tour had been so frequently recounted that Boswell and Brydone both sought more remote corners of Italy. Boswell's usual irrepressible enthusiasm and undaunted effrontery secured him the…

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Into its seventh edition, Brice's guide to Paris clearly satisfied its customers, who needed two volumes just to appreciate what one city had to offer. Illustrations were also clearly a stong selling point, indicating that the book was appreciated at…

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Bruce's story remains one of the quintessential African adventure stories, and was eagerly expected by contemporary readers. Bruce took sixteen years to publish his account, by which time Mungo Park and others had brought back further information and…

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This small volume provides the practical details needed to navigate the new road systems. Cary's maps, with the colour-coded distinctions among roads, beautifully conveys the intricate networks of communication that increasingly encouraged local…

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The contents of this pamphlet are far less colourful or exotic than its cover. Although twentieth-century readers expect accurate information, we still like to imagine our voyages as adventures.

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William Dampier was the most successful English buccaneer, redeeming his reputation as a mercenary adventurer by aspiring to the role of scientific explorer. This world map, drawn by Herman Moll, the premier cartographer of his day, shows the known…

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Gell's detailed study of the architectural discoveries unearthed at Pompei over the course of the eighteenth century provides an example of the strong English interest in topography and archaeology that often informed travel. This particular image…

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Although Millenium Hall is fictional, the title-page presents it as a domestic tour, and the explicitly 'improving' aim of the work is not out of keeping with other travels of its day. John Newbery, to whom Scott dedicates her book, was the first…

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These two imaginary dialogues raise serious questions about the value of the grand tour. Locke is the more sceptical speaker, and ultimately the more forceful. In refuting the traditional argument that travel exposed one to the various guises of…

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This handbook is included as evidence of other uses to which travel guides may be put. One can easily imagine a character in A Room with a View placing a favourite flower into his or her Baedeker. Someone certainly did so with this volume, though we…

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This small book is too tightly bound to be displayed open, but its small size belies its influence. Translated first into Latin and French from Italian in 1556, the work reached English readers by 1600 and by 1632 the Elzevir firm, associated with…

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The Michelin man seems slightly thin by comparison with his modern counterpart, but the insistent endorsement of Michelin products is as modern as any web-page advertising. At this date, the guides had not yet adopted the star rating system and did…

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Sydney Parkinson, botanical draughtsman on Cook's first voyage, died before returning to London, and his papers found their way to the library of Joseph Banks. Parkinson's brother, Stanfield, eventually obtained the papers, after a bitter public…

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This 12° book, containing two volumes of an eight-volume collection, highlights the strong interest in circumnavigations among readers of every rank. The frontispiece captures the compelling sense of danger, while the title-page enumerates the…

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These advertisements inevitably evoke a longing for the past. As we trundle our luggage through airports, the idea of a servant seems most appealing. While the grandeur of train stations like Dunedin's meant that accommodation nearby was the most…

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Although Markino's image of Rome is at least as romanticised as anything on display in the beginning of the exhibition, reader expectations have undoubtedly shifted, developing an interest in the 'personal & local', the individual experience that…

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This beautiful set of books provides a fascinating visual and textual introduction to the Middle East and North Africa. This image of the Sphinx, with its mellow shadowing and tiny human figures for perspective, conveys the stark awe of Europeans…
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