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Ruins of the palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia
In 1754 Robert Adam left Scotland for France and Italy on a Grand Tour. In Italy he met the French architect, Charles Louis Clérisseau, and the Italian, Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who would both have a significant influence upon him and his later…
The New Zealander in London
In the 1870s the artist Gustave Doré depicted Macaulay's New Zealander visiting future London. In the accompanying text Jerrold wrote, ‘Macaulay's dream of the far future, with the tourist New Zealander ... contemplating "The glory that was Greece…
Tags: Architecture, London, Macaulay
A parallel of the antient architecture with the modern
Following a stay in Rome in 1650, Fréart de Chambray published this anthology of ten ancient and modern writers on the classical orders. He argues that the Greek orders (the Doric, the Ionic, and Corinthian) are perfect models for all architecture…
Romae antiquae notitia: or, the antiquities of Rome
First published in 1696, this short history by the Anglican churchman and scholar, Basil Kennett, recounts the rise, progress, and decay of Ancient Rome eighty years before Gibbon's Decline and fall …. A popular publication, it was reprinted no…
Tags: Antiquity, Rome (Italy), Special Collections
Aedificiorvm et rvinarvm Romae ex antiqvis atqve hodiernis monimentis liber primus
This book on the buildings and ruins of Rome by the 17th century artist and engraver, Giovanni Maggi, is typical of the works by which the ruins of antiquity became known outside Italy through that century. The remnant of the Temple of Jupiter Stator…
The ruins of Pæstum
The Greek temples at Paestum in southern Italy were almost unknown until the 1750s. They became better known through publication. This book by Thomas Major was one of the first that enabled architects of Northern and Western Europe to study the three…
Tags: Antiquity, Architecture, Greek, Posidonia, Special Collections, Temples
Le terme dei Romani
This drawing of Diocletian's Baths can be traced to Andrea Palladio. The Bertotti-Scamozzi illustrations in this volume follow those included by the English architect, Lord Burlington, in his study of the Baths of the Romans, Fabbriche Antiche…
Tags: Architecture, Baths, Romans, Special Collections
Roma aeterna Petri Schenkii
This publication by Amsterdam publisher and engraver Peter Schenk is typical of those that were appearing at the turn of the 18th century. The page shown depicts the ruins of the aqueduct the Aqua Marcia. It conveyed water to both the baths of…
Tvtte l'opere d'archittetvra, et prospetiva
In his seven-volume Tutte l'opere d'architettura that first appeared in 1584, Serlio aimed to provide a practical manual of architecture while avoiding explicit theory. As such the work became one of the most influential of all publications on…
Tags: Antiquity, Architecture, Renaissance, Roman, Ruins, Special Collections
The antiquities of Athens, measured and delineated
In 1742 James Stuart went to London where he met Nicholas Revett. With support from English travellers and residents in Rome, they raised funds and issued proposals for a ‘new and accurate description of the Antiquities &c. in the Province of…
Tags: Antiquity, Architecture, Athens, Special Collections
Travel advertisements
These advertisements inevitably evoke a longing for the past. As we trundle our luggage through airports, the idea of a servant seems most appealing. While the grandeur of train stations like Dunedin's meant that accommodation nearby was the most…
Tags: Travel, Travel publishers, Writing
Settlement of Australia
The frontispiece to this gorgeous volume captures the adventure associated with the settlement of Australia. Though the documents do not constitute a travel narrative, their connections with the moment of origin provide their intended readers with…
Tags: The Pacific, Travel, Writing
Common phrases for travelling
This somewhat battered little book attests to its apparent usefulness for some traveller, though it is difficult to imagine that the blend of scatalogical and salacious dialogue, 'Common Talke in an Inn', could ever have proved useful in any…
Tags: Philosophy of travel, Travel, Writing
Imaginary dialogues
These two imaginary dialogues raise serious questions about the value of the grand tour. Locke is the more sceptical speaker, and ultimately the more forceful. In refuting the traditional argument that travel exposed one to the various guises of…
Tags: Philosophy of travel, Travel, Writing
Dunedin Poem
Not only does this pamphlet's content affirm that tourism can be local, but the poem by Thomas Bracken praises our local attractions over a selection of the European highlights.
Pressed flowers
This handbook is included as evidence of other uses to which travel guides may be put. One can easily imagine a character in A Room with a View placing a favourite flower into his or her Baedeker. Someone certainly did so with this volume, though we…
Tags: Travel, Travel publishers, Writing
Hotel Honolulu
A novel by one of the best-known modern travel writers, Hotel Honolulu exploits the tension between fact and fiction in travel accounts. The dust jacket claims that Theroux presents 'the essence of Hawaii as it has never been depicted', combining the…
India
The contents of this pamphlet are far less colourful or exotic than its cover. Although twentieth-century readers expect accurate information, we still like to imagine our voyages as adventures.