Manuscript Travel Diaries (Catalog) - Xerxes Books, Booksellers to the World Since 1980

Manuscript Travel Diaries:

Flint, A. A.. ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN DIARY OF A. A. FLINT DURING VISIT TO GERMANY IN 1932
May 5 1932 to September 27, 1932. Very neatly written. 111 pages, illustrated with 19 original photographs and postcards tipped in. About 50 additional blank pages in the hardcover album. Mrs. A. A. Flint was wife of Dr. Joseph M. Flint, retired head of Yale Department of Surgery. There is one photograph of Dr. and A. A. Flint. Dr. Flint celebrates his sixtieth birthday during the stay. One mss letter and a few pieces of ephemera also tipped in album. The entire diary is of their stay in Carlsbad, Germany - a very interesting portrait of mid-century Germany. At dinner one evening one man ranted "about the awful Jews who came to Carlsbad. Their vulgarity, their cheapness, their constant and bitter fight against prices whether high or low" etc. Surprisingly, the man sitting next to Mrs. Flint whispered to her that the man speaking was himself a Jew! Quality reading. VG, light wear. (Please note: we offer a group of 6 more travel diaries of Mrs. Flint - see our entry a88029) (a82520)
$300.00Anonymous. ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN DIARY OCTOBER 8, 1836 TO MARCH 14, 1837 OF BOSTONIAN MAN TRAVELLING TO EUROPE
1836 , 1837. Diary is just volume one (of at least 2 volume set). One volume 7-1/4 x 4 -1/2 inches, 80pp., limp leather-covered boards. Brown ink manuscript entries, very legible. Author was a Bostonian who travelled to Boston to New York then on to Liverpool, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester, London, Paris. He travelled on the ship "George Washington" under command of Captain Holdridge. He travelled with fellow Bostoninans Mrs. Thorndike, Shaw, Cushing, A. Slade, Josiah Colby, J. B. Hutchinson and New Yorkers Norton, Kelly, Hay. A total of 45 persons plus 8 servants were aboard. Author is clearly highly intelligent and writes in an engaging, even funny style: "Time spent on shipboard is nothing but a blank to me. so much blotted out of existance. The pain of going to bed. the misery of getting up, the pleasures of eating and greater pleasure of vomiting for the benefit of the fishes." Lots of interesting observations: "In coming from Manchester through Yorkshire I was exceedingly struck with the great contrast between the lower classes in this country and in our own. Intemperance, licentiousness and every other sin that degrade people prevail here to a more alarming extent."(Glasgow Nov. 18). "Anywhere but in France it would have seemed strange to see a madam of 65 waltzing and dancing, but so it is here. Pelasure, present enjoyment seems to be the whole object of a Frenchman's life". (Paris Feb. 23rd) Louvre was "too much crowded to see the paintings. It is quite as much as one cna do to keep from being trode upon." Note at end indicates volume 2 follows but we do not have any other volumes beyond this first one. Good, solid, light wear, becoming loose in cover. (a83513)
$450.00Sawyer, Mrs. H E. ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN TRAVEL DIARY OF MRS. H. E. SAWYER OF CHICAGO ILLINOIS (c. 1898)
Neatly written ink, very legible. Small octavo, 158pp., green cloth spine. Begins Wednesday June 16 and ends Friday August 27. From dates mentioned in the text of which 1870 is the latest, the date of the diary was most likely written either in 1886, r 1897 or, less likely, 1909 - it is clearly pre WW1. Diary begins with Sawyer in Italy, travels to Switzerland and ends in France. There are no blank pages. The diary is self-titled on front end paper "An Old Womans Travels". Sample entry: "Went to Mrs. Perkins to get the package of gloves for Mrs. Richmond. Not at home. left a card and then went to the Tomb of Napoleon It is in the Eglise des Invalides. It is a very beautiful building and was built by the architect Mansart. Finished in 1706...(etc)" VG. (a84627)
$425.00Farrar, Henry W. and Lina. TWO MANUSCRIPT VOLUMES OF TRAVEL DIARY 1861-1863 RECORDING SAME TRIP BY TWO DIFFERENT TRAVELLERS
Two royal octavo hardcover volumes, matching bindings, full black leather with gilt trim and metal clasps (one clasp working, one broken.) Both diaries begin Wednesday June 26, 1861 when Henry leaves Boston with Lina (likely his sister) , his Mother and Joseph Emerson Smith, cousin of Lina (and Henry?), for extensive travel in Europe. Henry's diary continues through to Monday July 21, 1863. (370pp.) Lina's diary begins on the same day, Wednesday June 26, 1861 as family leaves Boston for Europe and continues through to July 7, 1863 (252pp.). Next follows about 50 blank pages and then Lina's diary has a 5 page mss entry about a trip to Ireland and Scotland she takes in 1883. Entries here date from June 20 to July 8, 1883. The remainder of Lina's diary is blank. Unique oppportunity to see two different viewpoints on same vacation. After Henry's travel entries end, the rest of his volume - 109 pages- is a careful listing of his financial debts and expenses from 1861-62. He writes a detailed account of price, goods or services , date, to whom lent, borrowed, spent or received. Both diaries densely handwritten in ink. Legible. neat. Travel in England, France, Italy for the most part. Lina's diary notes that she took 4 trips: June 26 1861 with Mother , Henry ,Joe and Lina; June 16 1883 with Uncle Ben, Maud, Louisa and Lina; June 7, 1890 with Elsie, Maud, Louisa, Lina and November 26 1892 with Lu-Lu, Ripley, Louisa and Lina. Bindings secure. Good plus, light cover rubbing. Two volumes. (a85939)
$680.00 Vanderbilt, Cornelius . CRUISE OF THE 'NORTH STAR' APRIL AND MAY 1903
1903. Log of Yacht cruise from England to Tangier, Gibralter, Nice, Venice, Sicily, Malta, etc. On boards were Mr and Mrs Cornelius Vanderbilt (Cornelius being the great grandson of the famous financier Cornelius Vanderbilt), Miss Blight, Marquis de la Garara and Mr R. T. Crane Jr. plus crew. Hardcover. Typescript bound in 3/4 blue leather. 4to., 72p., fine color map showing route of cruise, finely bound with raised spine bands, fancy gilt and color end papersInternally Near Fine; cover is VG with slight cover wear.. Rare, likely Unique copy of this yacht trip. (a87351)
$1800.00Bishop, Mrs. Carlton T.. MANUSCRIPT MEMOIR OF TRIP TO TEXAS IN MAY 1943
One volume, 12mo., 68 leaves, stiff wraps. Several pages have tipped in souvenirs as railway tickets, color postcards, newpapers articles. Quite fun to read: "In this month of May, in the year of our lord 1943, with all mankind in a gigantic struggle for survival of ideals and even life itself, let me here make it plain that it took a three-fold purpose to mark Carlton and me consider sallying forth from our comfortable home into the utter chaos of travel. " The major reason "was to acompany Marjorie Floyd , fiancee of our son Gordon , to be present at their marriage." Majorie Floyd and Lieutenant Gordon Bishop were both from New Haven, Connecticut. Professor Carlton T. Bishop was professor at Yale for over 34 years. Diary is in excellent condition. VG plus. (a87389)
$299.00 O'Connor, Vincent Clarence Scott . DANUBE VOYAGE MANUSCRIPT JULY 1932 - OCTOBER 1932
One volume, folio, fully ink manuscript. Author's original manuscript, 365 leaves (but about 60 leaves are blank), bound in later wraps. A few sheets of loose notes are laid in. O'Connor, 1869-1945, was a writer with many books to his credit including Silken East, Mandalay, Travels in the Pyrenees, Charm of Kashmir, etc. Cover slip under the paperclip appears to be in handwriting of O'Connor and reads: "Short Story "Old Soldiers" by V C Scott O'Connor author of The Science of War , The Silken East etc. and was found with other manuscripts of his after he died. " No tearing, no staining in text. Binding secure. Legible. VG. (a87397)
$800.00Willets, Eliza L (b. 1858 New York). ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT PRIVATE JOURNAL OF TRIP TO ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND 1882
One volume, octavo, 103p., full leather with colorful marbled page ends. Diary begins September 27, 1882 and ends November 4, 1882. Records travels in Stratford On Avon, Sheffield, Perth, Glasgow, Dublin, Liverpool. Willets travelled with other women and girls from Pierpont, Sears and Cutting families. From passport records we found her birth date to be 1858 in New York so she is here travelling in her mid20s. She apparently lived most of her life in Queens, New York. Sample entry: " A well-beaten track across the fields led us to Shottery and by inquiring found the old thatch roof under which lived the bride of Shakespeare. " Very legible. Text VG plus, cover Good , leather is rubbed. (a87536)
$375.00 Gudebrod, Glady M. . MY TRIP ABROAD - MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY - JUNE 28 TO SEPTEMBER 17, 1923
Single volume of handwritten diary of cruise taken on board the S. S. Pittsburg, White Star Line in 1923 by Gladys M. Gudebrod. There is no name written on the diary but a printed ticket stamped "Montreux, Auot 1923" with her name written in which is laid in and diary was found with another diary which did have her name on it. She arrived in Paris June 28 and then travelled throughout France, down to Italy, going to Pisa, Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan then to Montreaux, Interlaken, Lucerne , back to Paris and London then home to Southampton. 86 pages, 18 lines per page. Very easy to read. Ink. About 10 pages of names/addresses written in at end. Typical entry: "August 3. Again we were luxuriously lazy in the mornng but finally dressed and explored a bit more of the town (Montreux). After lunch we rested and wrote letters and the doctor came to see J and pronunced her much better. He told of Pres. Harding's death. Very much shocked to hear it." VG. (a87706)
$350.00Everett, H. M. (of Rhode Island, likely Providence). MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF TRIP FROM USA TO GERMANY JULY 20, 1895 THROUGH DECEMBER 1895
Small octavo, 103p., 22 lines per page, fully manuscript with about 10 newspaper illustrations (mostly of large German buildings) carefully tipped in throughout the text, full black leather notebook. Several pages of names/addressses written in at end. Author was travelling with "Helen", presumably his wife. Author is most interested in art and architecture and writes often on buildings he sees and on paintings seen in museums. Typical entry: "The most attractive place we have seen in all our travels thus far is Wilhelmshohe. The Schloss was built in 1798..etc" Everett travelled through Holland into Germany where diary ends at Christmas,1895. Good plus, not much wear. Legible. (a87707)
$360.00Whipple, J. B. of Gloversville, Fulton County, New York . ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY DATED OCTOBER 1, 1866 THROUGH DECEMBER 10, 1866
1866 first edition. One volume. Hardcover. Small octavo, 70p., 22 lines per page, fully handwritten in pencil and ink, cloth. Neat and legible. Diary begins in Liverpool, England and ends back home to New York. He is on a business trip and mentions with regret having to be away from his "little wife and daughter." He attends Quaker services while abroad and at one meeting "an Old Quaker stands up and addresses us upon the responsibility one owes children which made me reflect upon mine off in a foreign land after thinking of her Pa and asking her dear mother when Pas is coming home". Good, light wear. Binding secure. (a87709)
$395.00 Day, Laura V . ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN DIARY "ACCOUNT OF MY SUMMER SPENT IN EUROPE IN 1885" in 2 VOLUMES
Two volumes. Octavos, 194p., 113p., (about 50 blank pages at end of second volume.) Diary begin May 20, 1885 as trip begins and ends as they see Fire Island (New York) on October 9, 1885. List at end of diary gives all places they visited and name of hotel at which they stayed. Locales include; Bremen, Berlin, Dresden, Carlsbad, Nuremberg, Munich, Innsbruch, Ragatz, Coue, Muhlen, St. Moritz, Thusis, San Bernrdino, Locarno. Airolo, Andermatt, Fiesch, Vernayaz, Charmonix, Geneva, Fribourg, Lucerne, Schaffhausen, Baden-Baden, Frankfort, Cologne, Amsterdam, Hague, Antwerp , Paris, London, Ventnor, Southampton. Hotels include Bellevue, Four Seasons, Victoria, Beau Rivage, etc. Laura is travelling with her parents, brothers Harry and Sherman and Nora and Una who are relatives or possibly maids. They are clearly well-off financially. If not sightseeing, Laura and her mother are shopping, buying lots of gold jewelry and dresses and hats. Typical entry: (Paris, Aug 21, 1885) "I went out with Papa & Mama to the Bon Marche and Papa got me a pretty perasol . After lunch Mama and I went to the dressmakers and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping. ..Nora bought a gold watch and chain yesterday at $40. We all went to the Hippodrom this evening." Very easy to read. First volume cover is quite worn and chipping but text is VG plus and binding very secure. Second volume is VG. Bindings of two volumes are not alike. Set of 2 volumes: (a87746)
$600.00Flint, A. A. (wife of Dr. Joseph M. Flint). SIX VOLUMES OF ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL MEMOIRS 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909 , 1911, 1925
sIX volumes of very neatly written ink handwriting of Mrs. A. A. Flint, wife of Dr. Joseph M. Flint. (Dr. Flint was a graduate of Princeton and Johns Hopkins Medical School who then moved to California to practice medicine. In California he began his personal campaign to improve hospitals by connecting a hospital with a local university. Later he became Professor of Surgery at Yale and lived in New Haven, Connecticut, for a while at least on Temple Street.) The six volumes are octavos, with 140p., 138p., 154p, 126p., 86p. and 146p. Two volumes are hardcover custom-made volumes with 3/4 maroon leather and gilt spine lettering reading "A. A. Flint Notes vol II" and "A.A. Flint Notes Vol. III." (we do not have volume 1.) The other four volumes are black cloth-covered somewhat stiff wraps with rouged page ends. The diary entries are the chatty highly descriptive narrative that one might expect from an intelligent, rich, well-travelled, energetic woman. Most all of the entries are on the delights and woes of travel - flat tires, missed connections, etc , but most expecially on concerts, theater (including the Wagner Festival in Beyreuth) , and art museums. About 20 percent of all pages have some paper ephemera neatly tipped in - a theatre programme, a picture postcard, a chromolithograph, a few original photographs. Mrs. Flint travels in these volumes in Germany, France, Italy, Siciliy, Belgium, Switzerland. Typical entry: (Aug 19, 1909) "This morning over our coffee cups, I began to remind Joe how three years ago we sent the maid out at three o'clock to secure us a cab and we left for the Prinzregenten Theater never later than 330. He airily waved his hand and said he would attend to all that and went out intimating we did nothing of the sort!" the gentle bantering and arguing continues until they do indeed arrive too late to be seated in the theatre. In at least one of the years covered in the 4 volumes, the Flints had come to Europe so Dr. Flint could attend a medical conference (1909). In 1909 and 1911 they were clearly enjoying the summer vacation months in Europe. All four volumes are in Good plus condition, binding secure and text clean. light cover wear. The volumes are not a complete run: 1st volume covers October 14, 1905 thru February 27, 1906; 2nd volume covers Feb 28, 1906-April 25, 1906; 3rd volume covers Dec 30 1906 to March 23, 1907; 4th vol July 2, 1909 thru September 30, 1909; 5th volume August 12, 1911 thru September 22, 1911; 6th vol Oct 3, 1925 to March 15, 1926. **LAID IN are two small (1x2 inch) original photographs presumably of Dr. Flint and a newspaper article with brief biography and a reprinted letter written by Dr. Flint. Set of 6 volumes. (Please note we offer an additional diary of A A Flint listed separately. See item a82520)) (a88029)
$580.00 (Emery, Mrs. Joseph of Lynn, Massachusetts) . HANDWRITTEN PENCIL DIARY OF EUROPEAN TRIP APRIL 19 TO MAY 18, 1900
From text author would seem to be the wife of Joseph Emery of Lynn, Massachusetts but this is not completely certain. Author mentions that they were married in 1891. Diary begins at beginning of their trip but this volume only covers the first part of the trip - the other volume(s) are missing. In this volume the couple leaves Massachusetts, travels to Azores and throughout Italy. Much description; easy to read. About 24 lines per pages, several pages are blank. Diary is 6x4 inches, thin cardboard cover with black cloth spine (spine worn and torn ),164p. Sample entry is a description of the Azores, April 28: "Most beautiful mountainous islands of the sea! ...The land is divided into plots divided by hedges until the whole country looks like a checkerboard. Here and there are scattered villages throughout the islands. Buildings are all painted white which adds to the picturesqueness of the islands...could see enormous windmills on islands revolving. Little sail-boats in bay, masts of vessels in the distance... (etc)" Good, cover worn. Binding secure. (a88226)
$380.00Ladd, Charles K. M.D.. ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY AND NOTEBOOK FOR MAY - AUGUST 1877
One volume. 6-1/2 x 4 inches, red marbled boards with leather spine. Fully manuscript in both ink and pencil. Many daily diary entries but also lists of purchases, expenses and many very fine drawings. Ladd's artwork shows considerable drawing skill and tends toward humorous caricatures. The diary gives his birth date as November 16. He gives his address as Towanda, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania records show that Charles K. Ladd was granted a degree in Medicine in May, 1877 so Ladd was likely born sometime around 1850. This diary records his adventures in Germany where he spent the summer travelling and taking classes in German. The notebook is worn, inner hinges are cracked but binding still holds and no pages are loose. Notebook is messy and chaotic but easily legible. Typical entry: "Sunday June 24, 1877. Read German in morning and in the afternoon I visited Elise Mercur a very nice young one. Apparently stayed about an hour and enjoyed myself muchly - truly the old Man and Woman are a little too free". (a88349)
$475.00