English Travelers' Manuscript Pocket Notebook, written during a visit to Rome, circa 1740, presumably while on the Grand Tour

[TRAVEL & VOYAGES: ITALY].

English Travelers' Manuscript Pocket Notebook, written during a visit to Rome, circa 1740, presumably while on the Grand Tour.

Place and Imprint: [Rome, Italy, circa 1740].
Condition: Vellum understandably a bit worn, but over all the condition is quite good.
Book ID: 29108

Physical Description

Small 8vo, contemporary limp vellum boards, 92 leaves, 77 leaves written in ink in two neat mid-18th century hands on the rectos and versos, five leaves with faint pencil sketches, and ten blank leaves.

Comments

A manuscript pocket notebook that records in detail visits to the prominent sights in Rome and describes the works of art encountered and their attributions. The anonymous travelers conscientiously visited not only the seven major pilgrim churches but also a large number of lesser churches. They seemed to be particularly drawn to the various palazzi, recording seven pages for Palazzo Barberini, five each for Palazzo Borghese and Palazzo Farnese, eight for Villa Borghese, ten for the Vatican, with particular emphasis on the Library, Sistine Chapel and Museum. The Capitol received the most attention, with entries taking up almost 20 pages. The intrepid travelers also visited the major classical monuments, the Jesuit College, and the Tiber Island. Of the 144 pages with manuscript entries, approximately 120 are in the same hand and 24 in another hand, but it is clear the two writers were traveling together, working in conjunction, sharing their observations, and in several instances annotating the other's entries. It is plausible that the second hand is that of a woman. ¶ The initials and date "C. P. 1740" in the upper left corner of the front paste-down are the only indication of authorship and date. A later owner signed and dated his signature - "C. E. Stringer 1805" - in the center of the paste-down. Laid in is the bookplate of Charles Edward Stringer (fl. 1787-1852), an antiquarian from Lichfield and the author of A Short Account of the Ancient and Modern State of the City and Close of Lichfield (1819). On the lower vellum wrapper is the mostly indecipherable manuscript lettering that reads "Roma . . . 17 . . ." Also laid in is a separate leaf of manuscript notes in the same hand as the majority of the writing in the manuscript notebook. Modern provenance: bookseller's description from Maggs Bros, London, laid in, with an unidentified owner's note in pencil on the rear paste-down that this was purchased from Maggs in October 1994. From that private collector it was recently (late 2024) sold to Howard S. Mott of Sheffield, Massachusetts.