Some years ago, I came across a treasure trove—four Baedeker
guides from 1887. Maybe that isn’t everyone’s idea of a treasure, but it
certainly is mine.
I don’t think it was those guidebooks that gave me the idea
to have my Victorian characters go off traveling for their adventures, but they
did remind me that guidebooks are a wonderful source for research. You can find
out how people got from place to place, where they might stay, what they would
see.
Guide books also tell you something about the people who
were traveling too. People have always moved around the globe, but generally
for a reason. Wealthy gentlemen in the 17th and 18th centuries might go on the
Grand Tour to round out their education, and starting in the 18th century
people like Lizzie Bennett and the Gardiners might go touring—with a guidebook
to tell them which houses were worth looking at.
As an aside, I’ve always thought it must be rather fun to be
a nobleman who could go up to a house belonging to total strangers, hand in
your card, and expect to be invited to stay the night. For other people, it
took a certain level of wealth and leisure to be able to travel, and that
doesn’t really happen until the 19th century.
There’s a guide book from 1770, The Gentleman’s Guide in
the Tour Through France wrote by an officer. According to its subtitle, its purpose is to
urge travelers “Not to spend more Money in the Country of our natural Enemy,
than is requisite to support, with Decency, the Character of an Englishman.”
Sure enough, the directions on how to get from place to
place, what to see when you get there, and how to arrange for meals and a place
to stay are all interspersed with warnings on how to avoid being cheated.
The Napoleonic Wars made travel around Europe a bit
difficult, but once Waterloo settled that problem, people were on the move. If
you couldn’t find any other reason to travel, you could always do it for your
health. In 1820, Mariana Starke wrote Travels in Europe for the use of
Travellers on the Continent. It went through numerous editions, and was
frequently plagiarized. By the 1839 edition, she was noting that both roads and
accommodations had greatly improved, but still the “least fatiguing” way to
travel, and the best for invalids, was to go by sea, or by sea and canal.
In the 1830s, the German publisher Karl Baedeker began
putting out his Handbooks for Travellers, which were translated into
English by the 1860s. And in 1836 the English publisher John Murray began
putting out his own Handbooks for Travellers.The age of the tourist had
begun.
These handbooks are full of practical information, and most
of them are available on the Internet. I used them to figure out just precisely
how Lady Emily and her family got from London to Rome and how long it would
take them. I didn’t put it all in the book, of course, but I needed to know.
Aside from the useful stuff, something I find truly
interesting about these guidebooks is the wealth of historical and artistic
information they contain, and the total absence of information about shopping
and entertainment. One of the ones I have, the 1887 guide to Southern Italy,
has six pages of small type devoted to the history, architecture and decoration
of Pompeii, followed by another eighteen pages guiding you through all the
buildings that had been excavated so far. The original owner of the book was
there in January 1890—he penciled the date in the margin—and checked off almost
every building.
They were serious travelers those Victorians.
For more information on how Victorians traveled, check out my new release Lady Elinor's Wicked Adventures!
***
Harry de Vaux, Viscount Tunbury, has loved Lady Elinor
Tremaine for as long as he can remember—but is convinced that his past makes
him unworthy of her. He agrees to accompany the Tremaine family to Italy to
explore Etruscan ruins, even if it chips away at his resolve to stay away from
the delightful woman he loves.
The intrepid Lady Elinor is caught up in the Victorian
fervor for exploring distant lands. But during her travels she is thrown back
into the company of an old friend, Harry de Vaux. Amid the sightseeing and
treasure hunting, Elinor comes to realize that she wants far more from Harry
than friendship. But when a dangerous discovery leaves them fighting for their
lives, it might just be too late...
Lillian Marek was
born and raised in New York City (the center of the universe). At one time or
another she has had most of the interesting but underpaid jobs available to
English majors. After a few too many years in journalism, she decided she
prefers fiction, where the good guys win and the bad guys get what they
deserve.
Available Now:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1rNzW7e
Apple: http://bit.ly/1t9yhv6
Chapters: http://bit.ly/1p6aEmz
Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1yRbaWv
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1tOj1ar
Baedeker guides! I'd be excited at finding those, too. What a great reference. Congrats on the book! I'm looking forward to reading it. Etruscan ruins and romance--love it!
ReplyDeleteBaedeker guides are great. It's really interesting to compare the ease of travel for the Victorians vs. the Georgians. For the Georgians, sometimes whole carriages had to be disassembled to cross the mountains, amazing. Sounds like a fabulous read, congratulations. Happy release day!
ReplyDeleteTHanks, ladies. Research is such fun, isn't it? I love finding these odd bits. And you know what? An old Baedeker is a great guide when you're wandering around ancient sites. Much better than any modern guide I know. After all, The cave of the sibyl hasn't changed much in that past century and a half.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the release. I also like to use guidebooks, but I've never used them for MY travel. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteThose guidebooks must be such fun to browse through! Congrats on your new release!
ReplyDelete