Rambles In Germany And Italy, In 1840, 1842, And 1843

by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

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Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1844

About the author

Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, often known as Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, travel writer, and editor of the works of her husband, Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. She was the daughter of the political philosopher William Godwin and the writer, philosopher, and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Mary Shelley was taken seriously as a writer in her own lifetime, though reviewers often missed the political edge to her novels. After her death, however, she was chiefly remembered only as the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein. It was not until 1989, when Emily Sunstein published her prizewinning biography Mary Shelley: Romance and Reality, that a full-length scholarly biography analyzing all of Shelley's letters, journals, and works within their historical context was published.

The well-meaning attempts of Mary Shelley's son and daughter-in-law to "Victorianise" her memory through the censoring of letters and biographical material contributed to a perception of Mary Shelley as a more conventional, less reformist figure than her works suggest. Her own timid omissions from Percy Shelley's works and her quiet avoidance of public controversy in the later years of her life added to this impression.

The eclipse of Mary Shelley's reputation as a novelist and biographer meant that, until the last thirty years, most of her works remained out of print, obstructing a larger view of her achievement. She was seen as a one-novel author, if that. In recent decades, however, the republication of almost all her writings has stimulated a new recognition of its value. Her voracious reading habits and intensive study, revealed in her journals and letters and reflected in her works, is now better appreciated. Shelley's recognition of herself as an author has also been recognized; after Percy's death, she wrote about her authorial ambitions: "I think that I can maintain myself, and there is something inspiriting in the idea". Scholars now consider Mary Shelley to be a major Romantic figure, significant for her literary achievement and her political voice as a woman and a liberal.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

While known for her fiction, Mary Shelley’s career was bookended by two travel narratives. History of a Six Weeks' Tour (1817) was published a year before her genre fiction masterpiece Frankenstein (1818). This 1844 book was published some seven years after her seventh and last novel Falkner (1837). Traveling the world and meeting the common people of different countries was always of great importance to the author—personally, morally, and politically.

Rambles in Germany and Italy, in 1840, 1842, and 1843 is a rambling work, composed of letters Mary Shelley wrote over the course of her European travels, yet I found it more enjoyable than the majority of her literary works. The book provides a rich view of Europe during this era, along with Mary Shelley’s insights into the great art, architecture, and literature she came across. Rambles also has moments of emotional power, with the author frequently being reminded of traveling to the very same places with family members and friends, now deceased. She reflects on her late husband Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), visiting his grave in Rome. Sadly, she was unable to find the graves of two of their children, William and Clara—both who died in early childhood—because their Italian graves were left unmarked. Mary Shelley’s descriptions of the natural world in the book are as vivid and dramatic as anything in her fiction. However, where Rambles really stands out is when the author delves into politics. She states in the preface that this is one of her goals:

“When I reached Italy, however, and came south, I found that I could say little of Florence and Rome, as far as regarded the cities themselves, that had not been said so often and so well before, that I was satisfied to select from my letters such portions merely as touched upon subjects that I had not found mentioned elsewhere. It was otherwise as regarded the people, especially in a political point of view; and in treating of them my scope grew more serious.” (p. 4349)

In the 1840s, Italy was occupied by Austria, and this brought great suffering to the Italian people. Europe, for all of its scientific, artistic, and philosophical gifts to the world, was a violent and often tyrannical continent up until the end of World War II. Mary Shelley remained a radical throughout her life, and her views on Republicanism, individual liberty, gender, and sexuality are apparent throughout Rambles. Sadly, these qualities were largely ignored by readers and critics upon its original publication. Fortunately, the book has been reappraised in the modern era.

Rambles in Germany and Italy, in 1840, 1842, and 1843 is a fine and fitting conclusion to Mary Shelley’s writing career. Sadly, her health steadily declined in the early 1840s until her untimely death in 1851 of a brain tumor. I recommend this book to anyone interested in autobiographical information about the author, who lived an interesting life. It also has value in its own right for the beauty of its language and visual description, not to mention the views of life in Italy and Germany during this era.


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[Image: Book Cover]

Citation:
Shelley, M. (2015). Rambles in Germany and Italy, in 1840, 1842, and 1843. In Complete Works of Mary Shelley (Kindle Edition, pp. 4341-4799). Delphi Classics. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00....

Title: Rambles in Germany and Italy, in 1840, 1842, and 1843
Author(s): Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797-1851)
Year: 1844
Genre: Nonfiction - Travel Narrative
Page count: 458 pages
Date(s) read: 10/28/25 - 11/2/25
Book 231 in 2025
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[Päivi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Itsekin samoilla seuduilla kulkeneena oli mielenkiintoista lukea, miten 1800-luvun alkupuolen matkalainen koki, ja millaista matkanteko noina päivinä muutenkin oli (= hankalaa ja kallista). Shelley kirjoittaa myös matkakohteidensa historiasta, pohtien asioita yleisemminkin.

[Eris Varga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pay no attention to the rating; this was a resource for me.