Manuscript journal of an extensive tour through Europe with his sister and two friends

Wade, William D.

Published by February 19 to October 13, 1870

3 volumes, small folio, approx. 250 pages, approx. 65,000 words, in ink; contemporary gilt-stamped full calf; contains a very useful index with places visited, dates of travel, with volume number and page number in volume I; also 4 cartes de visite of the four tourists, William D. Wade, Emma C. Wade, Emilie B. Pratt, and Louis Heicher, apparently taken in Munich by the studio photographer, M. Possenbacher. Volume I scuffed and worn, especially the spine; volumes II and III are better; all bindings sound, and the penmanship quite legible. Brooklynite William Dwight Wade (b.1847) embarked on the grand tour with his sister, Emma Cleveland Wade (b.1844), and his cousin, Emilie Brace Pratt (b.1850). They were also accompanied by an older friend and "courier," who served as general travel agent, escort, and facilitator, Louis Heicher. The journey took place on the brink of the The Franco-Prussian War; the war which saw the Siege of Paris and led to the establishment of the German Empire. William Wade, a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, and later brass manufacturer and manufacturer of printing inks, is a writer very much of his era. His prose is formal but replete with colorful description, and, of course, the party hit all the required classical highlights of the continent. By the late 19th century the Grand Tour would become an essentially American phenomenon. During the Gilded Age, America's upper classes and merchant classes traveled the world visiting the great European cities and the ancient sites of the Mediterranean, as part of a Grand Tour, collecting and honoring their western cultural heritage. In 1867 Mark Twain took a sort of Cook's tour to Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, sending back dispatches to Alta California, a San Francisco paper that sponsored his trip. Later, his dispatches were published in a subscription book, The Innocents Abroad or The New Pilgrims Progress. Within its first year, the book sold over 70,000 copies, and remained the best-selling of Twain's books throughout his lifetime. As the 19th century progressed many Americans ventured out following Twain's Grand Tour experience. William Randolph Hearst took his first Grand Tour at the age of 10 in 1873, spending a year and a half traveling and beginning a habit of collecting. After debarking the Ville de Paris (Capt. Hilliard master, a steamship of a French Line) at Havre, the Wades began to sightsee their way across France. Of Paris: "Anticipating a return to the renowned City later in our travels, we decided to take the few days which we now proposed to spend in our easy manner, acquainting ourselves with the capital in general, securing a courier, and preparing for the flight southward, ere the Italian skies became too fervent in their greeting. While the Franco-Prussian War prevented the consummation of this later plan, and from some points of view our decision was a mistake. Yet, we can feel that after all we have nothing to regret. We saw Paris in all its Imperial splendor, the Tuileries with Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie in residence." Volume I describes France and Italy, Volume II is Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and back through Germany. Volume III covers Holland, Belgium, England,Scotland, and thence to Liverpool for a return voyage on the Russia. Among the cities visited are Antwerp, Baden Baden, Bath, Bellagio, Brussels, Bristol, Brighton, Como, Cologne, Cork, Canterbury, Chatsworth, Dresden, Derby, Dublin, Edinburgh, Florence, Frankfurt, Genoa, Glasgow, Giants Causeway, Heidelberg, The Hague, Innsbruck, Killarney, Lyons, Leghorn, Lucino, Lucerne, London, Loch Lomand, Leeds, Lausanne, Marseilles, Munich, Milan, Lake Maggiore, Nice, Naples, Nuremberg, Nottingham, Oxford, Paris, Pisa, Padua, Potsdam, Pompeii, Rome, Sorrento, Strassburg, Stuttgart, Stratford-on-Avon, Salisbury, Trieste, Venice, Vienna, Verona, York and Zurich, among many others. In Berlin: "We found that our visit to Berlin had been timed most auspi. Seller Inventory # 57414

Bibliographic Details

Title: Manuscript journal of an extensive tour ...
Publisher: February 19 to October 13
Publication Date: 1870
Binding: Hardcover