The Path to Rome

I vowed a vow there to go to Rome on Pilgrimage and see all Europe which the Christian Faith has saved; and I said, “I will walk all the way and take advantage of no wheeled thing...and be present at High Mass in St. Peter’s on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.”

THIS STORY OF ADVENTUROUS PILGRIMAGE rambles through the fields of France, the mountains of Switzerland, and the plains of Italy. Belloc’s own favorite among his books, The Path to Rome recounts a pilgrimage on foot from the author’s birthplace in France to the Eternal City. Along the way he must find shelter, food, and directions. Stopping every few pages for a swig of local wine, his thoughts wander as much as his feet, covering topics as wide ranging as:

Devices for Ending Books
On Justice in Armies
Thoughts on French Folk-Lore
The Value of Bakers
The Tradition of Mankind and Ordinary Living

He also ponders the nature of the soul, declares his theory of blessings, and, when caught in loneliness or despair, cheers himself with stories such as that of the Great Barrel, the story of the Old Sailor, the story of the Devil and the Learned Man, and the story of Mr. Hard (to name a few).

In a travelogue devoid of chapters, Belloc carries his reader along at a breakneck pace, stopping only to rest and argue with his imaginary reader, the “Lector.” In these altercations with the Lector, Belloc finds he must defend himself, criticize himself, and make fun of himself—and most everything else—for the sake of his sanity and the health of the world. Long a classic and Belloc’s best-known work, Os Justi is proud to offer the world a newly typeset edition, complete with all of Belloc’s original illustrations.

“A classic, born of something far deeper than the experience it records.” —Robert Speaight

“The Path to Rome is one of the most delightful and well-beloved travel books in the English language—the story of Hilaire Belloc, age 31, on a walk from southern France to the far-off city of Rome. Or perhaps of Hilaire Belloc on a romp through the English language. Or perhaps of Hilaire Belloc on a stroll through, a meditation upon, the hidden links of Europe to Christianity.” —Michael Novak

“The Path to Rome . . . stands for many of us as one of the few great windows onto a pre-technocratic, Christ-drenched culture that was truly, even gloriously, at home on earth.” —Will Hoyt

“By focusing on the journey instead of devoting all his energies to anticipating the destination, he saved himself from missing the delights and comedies, along with the challenges and obstacles he overcame, that made getting there worthwhile…. Since Belloc had no smartphone or camera to speed the process along, each sketch represents the time he devoted to drawing the view by hand. These details remind us that the boring moments of our time abroad deserve our attention.” —Kittie Helmick