The travel diary as a composite text and fragmentary source on the experience of travel

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Jill Bepler (Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel)

The travel diary as a composite text and fragmentary source on the experience of travel

This contribution will examine a rare source of information on the practicalities of travel in the 17th century and the role of the travelling tutor. As a professional tutor Jerome (Hieronymus) Hainhofer, nephew to the famous art dealer Philipp Hainhofer, made his living accompanying young English nobles around France, Germany and Italy. In Orleans in 1641 he purchased a copy of Varennes’ standard guidebook Le Voyage de France, which he had specially bound with interleaved blank pages on which he made his notes (mainly in French and German) on successive “tours”, of which there were at least 12, through France. From 1549-1654 Hainhofer accompanied Robert Montagu, Lord Mandeville, through France, Germany and Switzerland to Italy. By comparing the printed text and Hainhofer’s notes with the Robert Montagu’s journal during their stay in Paris and its environs, I will trace the links between Varenne’s guide book, Montagu’s travel diary and Hainhofer’s personal contacts and guidance in shaping the way in which Montagu looked at and recorded the sights he was shown and various buildings and art works. Taking some of the same sights visited by Hainhofer and Montagu, I will also look at the diary kept by Ferdinand Albrecht of Braunschweig-Lüneburg during his stay in Paris in 1658/1659 and the financial accounts kept by his host, the ducal agent in Paris Jean Beeck, which show that sightseeing and the purchase of books and engravings went hand in hand, complementing the travel journal’s textual record.

Référencé dans la conférence : "Entre réalité et fiction: Art et architecture à Paris et Versailles "
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