1906 Original Travel Diary Of A Young Englishwoman Touring Europe

Handwritten 1906 travel diary offering a fascinating look at Europe through the eyes of a young Englishwoman exploring the continent with her mother, sister, and a Catholic priest.

The author of the journal is unknown, but from context we guess that she is a young woman. She travels with her uncle, who is a Roman Catholic priest, her mother, and her sister. The family appears to be financially comfortable, and clearly conscious of class distinctions. 

The diary is printed as a ledger book. It begins with 12 thumb or cut-in index leaves, each labeled alphabetically with two letters (AB, CD, etc.). Those are followed by 234 pages, with vertical columns lined with red. The author, however, ignores the layout of the book and simply uses it as a written journal. The book’s sturdy hardboard cover is in fairly good condition with wear and some scuff marks on the corners and spine. The pages are in good condition and the endpapers and fore-edges of the book have a beautiful multi-colour decorative design. The handwriting is quite legible.

The diary begins on Sept 8, 1906, as the author and her family board a train in Leeds. She is painstaking in noting details as she travels: 

“... We had not gone very far before we saw a child fall off a railway & then a horse down and a crowd around it, also some men were throwing buckets full of water over the poor animal.”  

“By the time we reached Harwich it was very dark and as the train stopped our carriage was invaded by four filthy-looking men in still dirtier blue smocks. They all wanted to carry our four bags but we made two of them take it – it was ridiculous.”

The author’s party sails from Harwich to Antwerp, where her month-long adventure in Europe begins. From Antwerp, they travel to major cities including Brussels, Cologne, Bonn, Basel, and Zurich before ending up in Milan. The diary abruptly ends while they are in Milan. The descriptions of travel by train across Europe and by boat up the Rhine are detailed and colorful: “At nearly every place, the engine driver and all the men got off the train and went into the ‘Estaminet’ for a drink. The number of Estaminets [inns] was astonishing.” 

“The residences on the banks of the river were magnificent. Like young palaces a lot of them. Now it was that we saw the first of the vines growing wild. Most of the buildings are white to keep the heat off, not stone but plaster. Konigswinter the famous health resort lies embedded in the trees & mountains a beautiful sight from the boat.”

A principal focus of their travels is to visit religious sites associated with the Catholic Church. The author gives detailed descriptions of the many churches and cathedrals that she visits. 

This journal offers a wonderful, first-hand glimpse of life across Europe only a few short years before the outbreak of the Great War that changed the face of the continent. It also grants a look at the attitudes of well-off English women in a highly class-conscious society.

Details: 

• Size: 9.25″ x 6.25″
• Number of pages: 258
• Condition: Good