20 ALS and 2 autograph manuscripts by Chandos Leigh, first Baron Leigh of Stoneleigh. Almost all of the letters were written during his travels on the Continent. Ten were written to his parents and sister in 1818-19 while he was on the grand tour. Letters from Switzerland and the Alps describe the scenery, particularly near Vevey and Lake Como, and refer to the writings of Rousseau, Byron, and Thomas Moore. Letters from Florence and Rome detail his responses to art and architecture, particularly the Venus de Medici, the sculpture of Canova and Thorvaldsen, and "the pride, pomp and circumstance" of Roman Catholic churches and ceremonies, which "must disgust the severe taste of the English traveller." Leigh also mentions Lord Byron, Lady Drury and Lord Beauchamp, the "set of regular English Dandies" and English ladies in Rome, the unattractiveness of Roman women, and his own purchase of a Salvator Rosa painting and Three letters to Sir Egerton Brydges, written during the Leigh family's stay in Switzerland in 1837, concern Leigh's poetry, his health, and a possible visit. His letters to his nephew Frederick Colvile contain news of his health and family; travel descriptions; and advice on Colvile's education. A March 1836 letter announces that the trustees of Rugby School have "unanimously decided in favour of Dr. Arnold;" a December 1837 letter comments that "Dr. Newman's book" (Lectures on Justification?) "contains much that is...to an ordinary man unintelligible." Other topics include the 1850 death of Sir Robert Peel and Leigh's own Liberal Party politics. The collection also contains autograph manuscripts of two poems by Leigh: "The First Days of Spring" and "Hymn for the Consecration of the Church on Westwood Heath."
Description:
Chandos Leigh (1791-1850) was educated at Harrow School, where he met Lord Byron, and Christ Church, Oxford, following which he made the grand tour with Philip Shuttleworth. A distant cousin of Jane Austen's, and a generous literary patron to Leigh Hunt and others, Leigh privately published over two dozen collections of his own poems and essays. He was created Baron Leigh of Stoneleigh in May, 1839. Leigh traveled several times to the Continent for his heath, but died of apoplexy in Bonn in September of 1850; he was succeeded by his eldest son, William Henry Leigh. and Accompanied by a container list.
Subject (Geographic):
Europe., Alps, Florence (Italy), Italy, Rome (Italy), and Switzerland
Subject (Name):
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824., Brydges, Egerton, Sir, 1762-1837., Canova, Antonio, 1757-1822., Colvile, Frederick Leigh, 1819-1886., Leigh, Chandos, 1791-1850., Leigh, Chandos, 1791-1850, Leigh, James Henry, 1765-1823., Leigh, Julia, d. 1871., Leigh, Julia Twisleton, d. 1843., Newman, John Henry, Saint, 1801-1890., Peel, Robert, 1788-1850, Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1712-1778, Thorvaldsen, Bertel, 1770-1844., Catholic Church, and Rugby School.
Subject (Topic):
Books and reading, Death and burial, Influence, Customs and practices, Authors, English, Dandies, English literature, Grand tours (Education), Tourism, Travelers' writings, English, Description and travel, Social life and customs, and Religious life and customs
Holograph journal in two versions (original and fair copy) of a tour from London to Naples and return via Switzerland, Germany and the Low Countries made by the Hincks brothers between March 29th and December 8th, 1823, The brothers spent extended periods in Naples, Rome, Florence and Vienna; the journal records their sightseeing, their opinions of works of art and architecture, and the daily events of travel. Supplied with an introduction to William Richard Hamilton, the English ambassador and antiquary, they remained in Naples for three weeks, attending concerts, balls, and conversazioni, exploring the local antiquities, and climbing Vesuvius, Following their departure from Naples they spent a month in Rome, visiting museums, galleries, and the studios of Canova and Thorvaldsen; returned to Florence, where they met William Etty copying a Titian at the Uffizi; marveled at the new Simplon Road into Switzerland; and returned to England via Vienna and the Low Countries, Original annotated on front pastedown with title and note: "note upon the above (made on the day below written) Given to me by me (sic) dearest brother John Hincks, now no more.' T. C. Hincks, August 12, 1844.", Fair copy contains tipped-in portrait engraving of Francis Joseph Charles, Duc de Reichstadt, and laid-in advertising card for the hotel of Pooters and Decoster, Amsterdam, and With: 5 autograph letters, signed, to John Hincks from Thomas Hincks; 2 autograph letters, signed, to John Hincks from John Finkett-Maddock; autograph letters, signed, to Hincks from Rector R. Massin; notes, printed ephemera related to later members of the Hincks family; and a manuscript copy of "the Order of Sessions Made the 11th day of Jan.y 1827."
Subject (Geographic):
Europe., Alps, France, Ital, Naples (Italy), Rome (Italy), and Switzerland
Subject (Name):
Canova, Antonio, 1757-1822., Etty, William, 1787-1849., Hamilton, William, 1777-1859., Hincks, John, 1788-1842., Hincks, Thomas Cowper, 1788-1865., and Thorvaldsen, Bertel, 1777-1844.
Subject (Topic):
Grand tours (Education), Tourism, Travelers' writings, English, Tourists, and Description and travel
