Travel diaries, [circa 1770].

Manuscript diaries, in two hands, describing Burney's tour of Italy and France in 1770. The first volume begins with an explanation of the purpose of his tour, to collect information about music, and of the diaries, to record the incidents of the tour which do not appear in his published account of his journey, "The Present State of Music in France and Italy." He describes the streets of the cities he visits, dinners with acquaintances, musical performances, and books he buys. In Paris, he is disappointed with an opera he hears; in Lyons, he plays cards with several Italian merchants; admires paintings in Turin; studies rare books in the Vatican; and visits Mount Vesuvius. He also describes a chance meeting with the twelve-year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his father in Bologna, and mentions his meeting and friendship with scientist and scholar Laura Bassi of Bologna, who demonstrates her recent electrical inventions for him. The diaries conclude with his return to London, seven months after he leaves.