Alps and Sanctuaries of Piedmont and the Canton Ticino

1923

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London: Jonathan Cape

Novelist Samuel Butler (1835-1902) always spent his holidays in Italy, a country he loved passionately. His Alps and Sanctuaries (1881) was written after summer trips to Piedmont and Ticino, before rail traffic increased so much as to ruin tranquil spots, and before the opening of the St Gothard tunnel in 1882. Butler did, however, partake in an hour and half train trip from Turin to Lanzo, in the north-west of Piedmont. While staying at the Hotel de la Poste, he relates an amusing conversation with an elderly Italian gentleman. An able artist, Butler also provided most of the sketches for this work.