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1896 Grand Tour Scrapbook to the Engadine (Switzerland)

 Collection
Identifier: SC MS 0454

Scope and Contents

A 19th- century scrapbook/travelogue of Charles Wellington Lloyd that documents account of a Victorian Era grand tour to Switzerland mainly by railroad.

Day by day diary entries for each event occurring with ephemera attached to each page to illustrate the daily events such as maps, postcards, hotels, etc. Clearly this album was created to record a memorable trip full of data - altitudes, distances, time schedules and personal impressions. Most of the ephemera laid into the album is beautifully decorated with illustrations of flowers, scrolls, decorative lines.

1 Volume, 29 x 24 cm, 109 pages, 80 pages in manuscript, 103 pieces of ephemera, folded maps, broadsides, etc. laid in, half-red leather, red morocco grained cloth boards, silk endpapers.

Dates

  • Creation: 1896

Creator

Access Restrictions

Access Restrictions: Collection housed remotely. Users need to contact 24 hours in advance.

Use Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Copyright Notice

Please inquire about copyright information.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Wellington Lloyd (1846-1913) was born in Hay, Breconshire, Wales but lived in Kington, Herefordshire, England and apparently made this grand tour to celebrate his 50th birthday as he notes at the end of his narrative that they returned from the tour August 19th on his 50th birthday. The group returned to Kington, Herefordshire by way of London. Along with Phoebe, there traveled with them three others: Miss Emily Hall, Miss Jane Hamer? and Mr. W. I. Hall. While in London the group met with Charles’ brother Harry who lived there. The grand tour of Europe was principally an 18th century custom of a traditional trip through Europe with Italy as a key destination seen as a rite of passage for privileged young people. Most notable examples are: Percy Shelley, John Keats, Mary Godwin Shelley, Lord Byron and Johan von Goethe. The Napoleonic Wars ended this era but the tradition resumed again in the Victorian Age when travel to the Continent became popular for middle class English in early mass tourism encouraged by the Thomas Cook and Son tours starting in the 1870s enabling educational and indulgent holiday trips for less affluent people. This tour travel in the Victorian Age is well represented by E. M. Forster’s “A Room With a View.” The Grand Tour usually included France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The Lloyds wrote the itinerary in diary style. Charles W. Lloyd made most of the entries noting altitudes of mountains, railway bridges, stations, tunnels, towns and departure times. Phoebe signed her name to a few observations as well. Based on his comments, it can be noted that the trip perhaps was a prearranged tour as the travelers knew where to make connections for railways, steamboats, stagecoaches, and always had hotel arrangements to go to after a long-distance traveling day.

Extent

1 Linear Feet ([1] Volume in box)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

A 19th- century scrapbook/travelogue of Charles Wellington Lloyd that documents account of a Victorian Era grand tour to Switzerland mainly by railroad.

Arrangement

The travelogue is arranged chronologically.

Acquisition Information

Purchased March 8, 2024 from Gerald W. Cloud rare book dealer.

Status
In Progress
Author
Eleanor Nothelfer.
Description rules
Dacs
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Lehigh University Library and Technology Services.

Repository Details

Part of the Lehigh University Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Lehigh University
Linderman Library
30 Library Drive
Bethlehem PA 18045 USA
610-758-4506
610-758-6091 (Fax)