One of the most interesting books on some of the earliest modern European travellers is coming up to the centenary of its publication. Touring in 1600 was first published in 1911. Its author, Ernest Stuart Bates (1876-1944), was a bank employee in London.
The book is a fascinating anthology of travel experiences across Europe from the late 16th and early 17th centuries and draws on the recorded experience of over two hundred travellers across Europe in that period. It remains among the most useful texts for anyone researching the travel customs, habits and, not least, the tribulations of the early modern traveller.
In 1987 a reprint of the text, with an introduction by George Bull, was produced in the Century Travellers series. A digital version of the text of the New York edition from 1911 can now be accessed online.
E.S. Bates was my Grandfather! While searching for books by E.S. Bates this morning I found a link to this blog. My husband, Rob Roy, and I have enjoyed many travels together and wrote a book called The Coincidental Traveler: Adventure Travel for Budget-minded Grown-ups published by Earthwood Publishing (West Chazy, NY, August 2012.) When we decided to write this book I had no idea that I would be following in my grandfather’s footsteps on a similar subject one hundred years later! In our research we used his Touring in 1600 the 1987 edition, which was fortunately given to me and my siblings by my parents. We open our book with a quote from Touring in 1600 about the great essayist Michel de Montaigne and how travel to the baths of Europe did him good, even if the baths themselves did not. My grandfather said, “Compared with Montaigne at home, Montaigne abroad never got tired or fretful; always in good spirits, always interested in everything, and ready for a talk with the first man he met.” We feel the same way, and share our strategies and philosophies of modern travel in our book. Our website, www.cordwoodmasonry.com has more about it. Click on Books and Media. Jaki (Bates) Roy.
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