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The Grand Tour
Drawing on travel books and diaries spanning four hundred years, Geoffrey Trease illustrates the fascinating journey of the European Grand Tour. This was a tradition rich with history from Elizabethan times down to the middle of the nineteenth century and the later introduction of railroads and tourism. With tours often lasting as long as three or four years, they were sine qua non for the scions of the richest and most powerful British families.
Originally intended to supply young aristocrats with a proper background for statecraft and diplomacy — occasionally for espionage — the Grand Tour developed into an event of considerable cultural and educational significance. Finally, by the middle of the eighteenth century, it had transformed into a social convention. Wherever grand tourists went, by boat, barge, coach, horseback, sedan chair, and even by foot, they never forgot they were Englishmen.
Another eighteenth-century traveller even suggested that in order to enjoy the comforts of home, a touring Englishman must take with him “sheets, pillows, blankets, towels, pistols, a pocket-knife to eat with, soup, tea, salt, spoons, loaf sugar, tea-and-sugar chest, mustard, cayenne, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, oatmeal, sago, plenty of medicine …”
Featuring famous grand tourists such as the trailblazing Sir Philip Sidney and Henry Wotten, John Milton, the diaryist John Evelyn, Joseph Addison, Thomas Coke, Horace Walpole, James Boswell, and the historian Edward Gibbon, The Grand Tour is a delightful and detailed study.
Originally intended to supply young aristocrats with a proper background for statecraft and diplomacy — occasionally for espionage — the Grand Tour developed into an event of considerable cultural and educational significance. Finally, by the middle of the eighteenth century, it had transformed into a social convention. Wherever grand tourists went, by boat, barge, coach, horseback, sedan chair, and even by foot, they never forgot they were Englishmen.
Another eighteenth-century traveller even suggested that in order to enjoy the comforts of home, a touring Englishman must take with him “sheets, pillows, blankets, towels, pistols, a pocket-knife to eat with, soup, tea, salt, spoons, loaf sugar, tea-and-sugar chest, mustard, cayenne, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, oatmeal, sago, plenty of medicine …”
Featuring famous grand tourists such as the trailblazing Sir Philip Sidney and Henry Wotten, John Milton, the diaryist John Evelyn, Joseph Addison, Thomas Coke, Horace Walpole, James Boswell, and the historian Edward Gibbon, The Grand Tour is a delightful and detailed study.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1967
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About the author
Geoffrey Trease
173 books25 followersRobert Geoffrey Trease (1909-1998) was a prolific writer, publishing 113 books between 1934 (Bows Against the Barons) and 1997 (Cloak for a Spy). His work has been translated into 20 languages. His grandfather was a historian, and was one of the main influences towards Trease's work.
He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.
He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 13, 2017
dated, sometimes clumsy and possibly inaccurate when enumerating experiences of named individuals... I was unable to finish book ...however-
"And in contrast with the elegance of the table appointments, spotless white linen adorned with flowers and fig-leaves, beaming waiter, cool wine in Venetian glass goblets, and what was at first the interesting novelty of forks, some of the other arrangements struck the northern traveller as crude. 'Where is the privy?' inquired Goethe at Torbole. 'In the courtyard, signore.' Goethe surveyed the courtyard but could see no likely doorway. 'Where exactly in the courtyard?' he asked. 'Oh, wherever you like, signore,' was the affable reply."
"The Rhineland was the happiest hunting ground of the collector: 'Everything here is taxed but the air,' ran the saying."
"Whatever your experience of the customs officials abroad, the last days of your tour would probably be overclouded by the prospect of facing the English officers at Dover...Despite all these discouragements men made the Grand Tour, and continued to make it in steadily mounting numbers, for the best part of three hundred years."
"And in contrast with the elegance of the table appointments, spotless white linen adorned with flowers and fig-leaves, beaming waiter, cool wine in Venetian glass goblets, and what was at first the interesting novelty of forks, some of the other arrangements struck the northern traveller as crude. 'Where is the privy?' inquired Goethe at Torbole. 'In the courtyard, signore.' Goethe surveyed the courtyard but could see no likely doorway. 'Where exactly in the courtyard?' he asked. 'Oh, wherever you like, signore,' was the affable reply."
"The Rhineland was the happiest hunting ground of the collector: 'Everything here is taxed but the air,' ran the saying."
"Whatever your experience of the customs officials abroad, the last days of your tour would probably be overclouded by the prospect of facing the English officers at Dover...Despite all these discouragements men made the Grand Tour, and continued to make it in steadily mounting numbers, for the best part of three hundred years."
May 12, 2017
A so-so book about travelers in Europe prior to the introduction of railways. It has some interesting anecdotes but is superficial and doesn't really tell me much except that some mostly wealthy people visited various places.
The Kindle edition desperately needs proofreading. It's been poorly scanned and is riddled with typos.
The Kindle edition desperately needs proofreading. It's been poorly scanned and is riddled with typos.
August 13, 2022
I found this book for free via Freebooksy; this is my honest review
Not at all what I expected but a good read nonetheless. I thought the author would bring us from one point to the other with what was to see and eat. That sort of thing. Instead, it's diaries notes from multiple people, intertwined with wars, inquisition, new popes and new kings. Interesting historical facts if you're a fan, which I am.
Not at all what I expected but a good read nonetheless. I thought the author would bring us from one point to the other with what was to see and eat. That sort of thing. Instead, it's diaries notes from multiple people, intertwined with wars, inquisition, new popes and new kings. Interesting historical facts if you're a fan, which I am.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews