Beschreibung:

European Travel Journal.- Smith (William Masters, politician, of Camer Park, Meopham, Kent, married Frances Elphinstone, 1802-61) Journal of Wm Masters Smith given to me by Mrs Masters Smith...W.A. Smith Masters, autograph manuscript, 130pp. excluding blanks, slightly browned, original half morocco, gilt, some repair, upper joint splitting but still strong, by Stocken, 8vo, 1842-43. ⁂ Journey includes: Brussels (visits field of Waterloo), Baden-Baden (gambling at the Conversation House), Zurich, Swiss Alps (avalanche at Lauterbrunnen), Berne (visited the educational establishment of Philipp Emanuel von Fellenberg (1771-1844), Swiss educationalist and agronomist), Rome, Pompeii (Solfatara, a shallow volcanic crater at Pozzuoli, near Naples),Baiae, steamer to Marseilles, Paris & Southampton. Ascending the Montanvert Glacier in the Mont Blanc Massif. "...away we went with our three mules, guide & boy to the Montanvert: our guide was a most particularly agreeable man... he prided himself... on being the grandson of the guide who had accompanied Pococke & Windham in their ascent of Mt Blanc in 1741... we lost no time in descending to the new de glace - that stupendous & mysterious sea... moves huge rocks upon its surface downwards till they descend into the plain below: we saw one 40 feet long... which moved 500 feet a year... we continued our walk to Le pierre des Anglais... a huge flat stone, which resting in a hollow forms a canopy, & served as the resting place for Pococke and Windham... ." Pope Gregory XVI (1765-1849) in the Sistine Chapel, "... we went... Ash Wednesday, to see the Pope put ashes on the heads of the Cardinals... Cardinal Acton [Charles Acton (1803-47), English Cardinal] amongst the number: the Pope enters... he was clothed in white & gold and wore a mitre... the Cardinals...kneel before him & kiss his robe, while he makes a cross with ashes... ." ⁂ Provenance: William Allan Smith-Masters (1850-1937), English cricketer.