About the lot N° 192
Title : TRAVEL – EUROPE, EGYPT AND THE HOLY LAND
Notes : These three volumes comprise fair copies made by the author from the original journals kept on his travels; as he himself explains: "Although I kept a diary each day of my valuable existence, still from hence forth on the Nile it will not be regularly copied in this book – as it would not interest my relatives for whose amusement this is intended, to read the number of pigeons or game I killed each day, the pages of German that I read in my little cabin, the ruins that I sketched , birds I stuffed, or Hieroglyphs I endeavoured to decipher – height of the thermometer – and speed of the boat – Conversations with the Dragomans, and antics of the Kid and Cat – all these are sufficiently entertaining to me, but I will spare my friends the recital" (Vol.II, p76). It breaks off half-way through the third volume, leaving us at Tyre; with a pencil note in another hand informing us that "here the manuscript terminates abruptly". The author marks his thirtieth birthday as falling on 21 January 1844, a clue which enables him to be identified as Francis Goddard, Canon and Prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, who from 1858 until his death on 2 November 1892 was Vicar of Hilmarton in Wiltshire.The diary is as notable for its lively style, as for the places it describes. Two short extracts give some indication of its quality; and both of them show the romanticism typified by Lord Byron (whose verse is frequently quoted) at its apex. In the first, our author actually encounters the relict of his hero during the Roman Carnival: "All the world in the streets masked and Domino'd, disguised figures and full dressed Ladies fill the carriage, which block the street – streamers and flags and beautiful drapery adorn every window – bon-bons fly about like hail – here comes a tremendous engine of destruction manned by an Englishman and named 'Machina Infernale' – recognize a Wiltshire man in it; bushels of 'bon-bons' pour from its side into the laps of the Ladies and faces of the Gentlemen... procured cards for us to the Duke of Sforza's ball, the greatest and last entertainment of the Season... Another Lioness of the evening was the still beautiful 'Countess Guiccioli' of Lord Byron notoriety – her style is exquisite fairness (a beauty not uncommon in Venice) long auburn ringlets and hazel eyes. The Lady had grown somewhat substantial on the sad memory of Lord Byron" (25 and 27 February 1842). In the second, we are treated to an Eastern scene worthy of Delacroix, in an entry headed "The Slave Market": "Assoan is the great emporium of slaves brought from the interior – the best from Abyssinia) having never been in any slave market I walked this morning to some Arab tents beneath a grove of Palms, where a cargo of these poor unhappy beings had lately been deposited from their camels, and were exposed for sale – they consisted entirely of young women just grown-up, of the negro cast but not perfect negros, having in them a mixture of a more slender and better looking race – They were tall and slim, almost elegant – they sat or rather squatted on the ground, and were quite as much amused with our appearance as we were with theirs; as they had probably never before seen Europeans; and the colour of our beards, we were told, amused them vastly – They seemed in excellent spirits – Their long wool-like hair, although burnt brown in the Sun, had been arranged with some care in cork screw ringlets, well saturated in Castor Oil; with which were also anointed their shining cheeks and shoulders. Their costume consisted merely of a short petticoat from the waist to the knee – chains, necklaces, beads, rings, they had in profusion – We offered them a present of a little money, and on our pulling out a few piastres they became exceedingly clamorous for more, and were ready to quarrel violently with each other..." (New Year's Day, 1844). See illustration at page 97.Bonhams 3, auctioneer,
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Sale title : Printed Books, Maps and Manuscripts
Sale date : 08 Jun 2010
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Sale Reference : Live Sale
