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.
