1824 ORIGINAL TRAVEL DIARY KEPT BY A PROPER YOUNG ENGLISH GENTLEMAN ON AN EXTRAVAGANT, DELUXE TRIP TO A NUMBER OF DUTCH CITIES, LANDMARKS AND WATERWAYS

On offer is a short but fascinating travel book of one wealthy young Englishman’s journey to Rotterdam and The Hague, Holland in 1824. It is a unique and rare look at the travel of English aristocracy in the first half of the 19th century, the last great age of the English landed gentry. The book is 30 pages in length of which writing is on every single page. Every page is filled with excursions, observations, and examples of lavish living for William Money, his father, and his cousin, as they travel first to Rotterdam and then spend over a month in The Hague, living at quite a fancy hotel, exploring the city itself, and taking day trips to landmarks around the country. The little book also includes descriptions of lavish dinners and days being waited on, driven, and doted on by servants and friends. It begins in the Summer 1824: “June 25, 1824. To commence my narrative I will give a short account of the two last days before our embarkation to Holland. I went to bed rather late on Sunday and was very tired. I had been running about Town the whole day had my teeth filed By the abominable dentist which is one of the Miserries of human life. My head was distracted in short I was a picture of misery.”; “June 26. The servants awoke me rather early this morning about five O’Clock however I was much refreshed and went to work like one who had done nothing, but I forgot to state that I went to dine at a Gentleman’s house on Friday and after all when I came home I had to prepare my things for Holland. Well to go on with my story we get off from No. 9 Manchester Street Manchester Square at 6 o’clock this was Saturday morning June 26th 1824 our Party consisted of three my precious Father my cousin and myself. We had a gentleman's carriage to take us about town and a hackney coach to carry our luggage to the Tower that place which has executed French of the greatest (?) and has been destroyed with Royal blood by the hoards of unnatural rebellion.” The next day, they are on a sailboat, going from the East Coast of England and then landing in the Netherlands the next day: “June 27th.. Went on deck. I was expecting to see nothing but blue skies and the watery ocean but was pleasantly astonished at seeing land all around. This was lacey land I Know it by that name because the Dutch gobble so. We soon got into the river Maas after a fine voyage. We then eat our hearty breakfast....We here took up a pistol and tacked along at a fine rate saw plenty of Tony-legged bison which they called Storks. We got to Rotterdam at 12.” From the instant of arrival, Money is taken aback by how clean and orderly the Dutch cities are, and how kind and lovely the Dutch people are as well. The layout of the cities with the canals and bridges also is commented on quite frequently. “June 28th,1824. We took Breakfast at Home. we went out with with (?) and enjoyed the town. It is an elegant, clean looking place. Trees shaded the walk from the burning sun and canals divide the Principal Streets. However we saw nothing ‘no hous’ as they call it but came home to dinner at 4. Here we had a bottle of Mousel for dinner we went out again so that I was very tired we then came home and had tea at Mr. Mackplat’s where we had another Prayer and a delightful conversation. He accompanied us home where I soon got to bed and fast asleep.”; After two days in Rotterdam, it is off to the Hague, where Money and his father and cousin will spend the rest of their time in Holland. “Drove off to the Hague with which Place we are most highly delighted. I (?) the beauty of it. It far surpassed my places that I have seen. We walked everywhere the People the PLace and all are so clean. We came to the Hotel de Belle where we have so very nice rooms that had attendance the man who drove us here cheated as that. We were not long here before (?). Of the gentleman who got these rooms for Papa he took us out to Table d`ote (d`hote)where we dined . This was 4 oclock and had an excellent dinner and a bottle of vin ordinaire called Bordeau....after dinner we went to Mr. L’s house to get him to show us the Place. He showed us everything in the wood.` (The `wood` is most probably the Haagse Bos, a rectangular neighbourhood and forest in the Haagse Hout district of The Hague, Netherlands. This was simply called Die Hout (The Woods)) “Mr. L.made a capital bargain with the man only one Golden to go to that sweet Ducking Place the old man of the Place has fishing boats to go over to England for something or other. We came back after a good bathe...We then came home and prepared for dinner and went to Table Doht (d`hote) and after that we came back and then went to the Wood where we had tea.”; After early June, there are no entries until late July. “July 23, 1824. We got up at seven and had breakfast. We set off at 8 in a caravan with Mr. London and Mr. Tosc. We reached Leyden at 9 very much interested...We first went to the University where we saw all of plenty Indians what from all parts of the globe. We saw there a (?) tree which was brought from Egypt in 1573 just about the time when Leyden was besieged. It was made a present by William the first and planted there…We then went to the museum and saw curious specimens of all types. Mr. London went to the Anatomy Hall to gut us to see a Head. He came back saying we could only see one which was most beautiful all the views of the Head Neck and parts of the body it was very interesting.”; Money also has a deep regard for the engineering works of the day, and has a special fascination for the canals and waterways of Holland. “We had dinner and then went to (?) to see the sluis the most Beautiful work I ever saw. It was begun in 1784 and finished in 1787. The whole country was inundated by the overflowing of the Bacchus of the Nile. It was like a sea but now these are houses where there was formerly nothing but water. This formed so when the sea is very boisterous there's a good deal of sand connected to the side of the gate so that it is had to clear away as it is on the sea side. The way they do it is the precipe overflows then they lift the gates all of a sudden which goes with such force that it forces the sand away.`` This is accompanied by a page-length drawing of the canal, with it`s locks and steps and houses on each sides. The drawing is amateur but well done. The book is in very good shape structurally. The writing is clear and concise script done in black ink. A few pages have some smudging, and one page in particular has a good bit of ink fading, but which impedes legibility but does not make it impossible. The front cover of the journal states: `Short account of a holiday spent in The Hague by William Money later (Rev. William) in the summer of 1824 when he was 22 years old.` This is not in Money`s handwriting and was added later by an unknown person.; Manuscript; 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, REVEREND WILLIAM MONEY, ENGLISH GENTLEMAN, LANDED GENTRY, 19TH CENTURY, ROTTERDAM, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM, THE HAGUE, DEN HAAG, DIE HOUT, LEYDEN, LEIDEN, THE NETHERLANDS, HOLLAND, CANALS IN THE NETHERLANDS, FLOOD CONTROL, EXTRAVAGANT TRAVEL, TABLE D’HOTE, SLUICE GATE, AGE OF BRITISH NOBILITY, COLONIAL ERA ENGLAND, BRITANNICA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D’ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL