India to Luxor
India
Drawings, 1932
Frieda Hauswirth Das (1886-1974), a Swiss writer and artist, was a fiercely independent woman of the early twentieth century. Upon graduating from Stanford University in 1910 she married her fellow classmate and friend, a native Indian, Sarangadhar Das. Frieda moved to India in 1920, where she painted one of the earliest portraits of Gandhi. She described her life in India in her autobiographical account entitled A Marriage to India. Deeply interested in Indian customs and life, Das drew these beautiful scenes of everyday life in India. These drawings of animals and people in India furnished the illustrations for her book Leap-Home & Gentlebrawn: A Tale of Hanuman Monkeys.
Istanbul, Turkey
Pencil sketch of the view of Pera from a bathroom window, 1877 or 1878
John Allen (b. 1810) traveled through Turkey, Egypt, and North Africa from 1877 to 1878. He covered a lot of ground, describing his experiences and surroundings in word and picture. In addition to this pencil sketch of the view from his Istanbul lodgings, the journal contains 21 watercolor illustrations, two other pencil drawings, a list of books, another of places visited, the names of everyone Allen met on his trip, and two (passport?) photos. In fact, the only thing missing from the journal is any information about Allen's home or family.
John Allen Travel Journal, 1877-78 : Constantinople, Egypt, North Africa, etc., Ms. Coll. 879
Italy
"Voyage en Italie," 1834
Before he became a popular French playwright, Eugène Labiche was like many fashionable young men of his time, interested in travel, adventure … and girls! These travel diaries are an account of the trip he made to Italy in the company of several friends and describe museums, transportation, fellow travelers, street scenes, accommodations, and, of course, brothels. This beautiful illustration was drawn by one of his friends, Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (1820-1910), who is more commonly (and much more famously) known as Nadar.
Eugène Labiche travel diaries, "Voyage en Italie," 1834 January 26-August 15, Ms. Coll. 1391
Japan
Photograph album of a trip to Japan, 1901
This photograph album was created by the otherwise unidentified Lill and Al during their 1901 voyage to Japan from San Francisco, California. For the most part, the couple's experiences are documented with small black-and-white snapshots with handwritten captions from their voyage aboard the Coptic in mid-October; to sights and scenes in Japan; to their return voyage from Yokohama on the American Maru in mid-December. Lill and Al’s trip had its share of drama—their hotel in Yokohama, the Oriental, burned down during their stay. These pictures show the aftermath of the fire, as well as the belongings they were able to save from destruction.
Jerusalem
Edith Mary Mellor travel ephemera, 1934-1935
This collection includes a travel diary with charming descriptions of Edith’s adventure-filled trip around Jerusalem and Egypt. In addition to the scrapbook-like diary, there are some wonderful early 20th-century travel guidebooks, tourist maps, and Edith's own sketches.
Kashmir
Photograph album of trip, 1932
This is the vestige of an adventurous (and unidentified) woman's trip through the Vale of Kashmir in India and Pakistan in 1932. This photograph album consists of images of animals, boats, bodies of water, daily life of local people, bridges, buildings, huts, mountains, passages, roads and valleys. You can journey with this plucky lass--she has provided marvelous captions for nearly everything!
Two months tour Jubbulpore to Rwalpindi by train ..., 1932, Ms. Coll. 1374
Kearsarge, New Hampshire
Watercolor drawing of flowers from a boggy meadow, 1896
Emma E. Wells (known as Lily Wells) was an accomplished artist and clearly was attracted to the beautiful wildflowers and plants she saw during her travels. She attended the University of Pennsylvania and was a member of its Naturalists’ Field Club. In 1929, she married John Muirhead MacFarlane, a Scottish botanist. Lily's collection contains seven sketchbooks filled with detailed and precise watercolors of the plants and flowers she saw in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region. Every page is absolutely stunning.
Lily Wells water color illustrations of North American plants, 1893-1928, Ms. Coll. 401
London, England
William Bugg's account of his trip, 1830
William Bugg was an organized storyteller. His journal's table of contents alone provides us with a thorough overview of his trip to London, from "leaving home," to "bad trick on the Hackney Coach,” to all of the places he visited. He took in the sights: London Bridge, parks, palaces, cathedrals, and markets. In addition, he seems to have been deeply concerned with social and economic issues including the impact on the surrounding neighborhood of a fire he witnessed, how much coal was burned in London, how much meat was consumed there, and how the “many thousands of poor” were being helped.
Luxor, Egypt
Pencil drawing of the obelisks at Luxor, 1822
This little volume chronicles William Hull’s trip home to London. After living in India for twenty-four years while serving with the East India Company, Hull departed Bombay (now Mumbai) in November 1822. Traveling by way of Egypt, Malta, Italy and France, Hull arrived back in England in July 1823. Hull would have been one of the last people to see (and draw) both obelisks in their original setting in Luxor: 10 years later, the obelisk on the right was taken to France. (It was exchanged for a mechanical clock!!) Today it stands at the center of the Place de la Concorde in Paris.