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Thomas Letts tour journals File
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Tour of Germany and the continent

Illustrated journal of a tour of Belgium, Germany and parts of the Austrian Empire (now Austria and the Czech Republic), 19 August-17 September 1853, by Thomas Letts, accompanying his son Thomas Alton Letts to Vienna to take up a job at a printers in the city (pp. 1-60, 81-300).
The journal contains numerous anecdotes concerning individuals encountered on the journey, as well as descriptions of churches, cathedrals, castles and other sights visited. Letts travelled by carriage, rail and steamer, with cruises along the Rhine (pp. 84-92), the Danube (pp. 163-209) and the Vltava and Elbe (pp. 264-278). The itinerary included Calais (pp. 3-8), Gand [Ghent] (pp. 11-22), Anvers [Antwerp] (pp. 23-34, 38-51), Brussels (pp. 34-38), Cologne (pp. 56-60, 81), Koblenz (pp. 85-90), Wurzburg (pp. 107-119), Nuremberg (pp. 122-132), Munich (pp. 133-161), Ratisbon [Regensburg] (pp. 166-175), Walhalla (pp. 177-182), Passau (pp. 189-204), Vienna (pp. 209-238), Brunn [Brno] (pp. 240-252), Prague (pp. 252-264) and Berlin (pp. 284-287). The journal was partly written up during the journey but was only completed on 22 October 1853 (see p. 300); there are occasional later corrections and additions in pencil and ink. The volume also contains twenty-one pages of illustrations and sketches in pencil, watercolour and wash (pp. 61-73 passim, 234a, 322-340 passim) and another twenty-two thumbnail sketches and diagrams accompanying the text (pp. 15-299 passim). Also bound into the volume are copies of Ethelbert Müller, Donaustauf and Walhalla (Ratisbon, 1846), a tourist guide (pp. 343-428), and the 'Railway Chronicle Travelling Charts: Basingstoke, Winchester, Gosport' (pp. 429-430; a single leaf folded twenty-six times).

Tour of North Wales

Journal of Thomas Letts, August-September 1834, describing a tour mostly in Caernarvonshire and Merioneth, with sixty-three illustrations in pencil, watercolour and wash.
The tour included Dinas Mawddwy (f. 6 verso), Dolwyddelan (ff. 23 verso, 46 recto-verso, 48 recto-verso, 52 verso-53, 112 verso-114 verso), Penmachno (ff. 31 recto-verso, 36, 71 verso, 73), Caernarfon Castle (ff. 81 verso, 83 recto-verso) and Tremadog (ff. 85 recto-verso, 88). Many of the sketches relate to the Conwy valley (ff. 7 verso-76 passim) and the Vale of Ffestiniog (ff. 59-108 verso passim).

Tour of North Wales

Journal of a tour in North Wales, August-September 1832, by Thomas Letts, with his companion Thomas Boyce, including sixty-nine full-page illustrations in pencil, watercolour and wash, some original and some derivative.
The journal commences with a description of the journey by coach, train and ship from London to Bangor, via Manchester and Liverpool, 23-25 August (ff. 2-20). Starting in Bangor the North Wales tour included visits to Conway, Capel Curig, Llanberis Pass, Snowdon, Beddgelert, Tanybwlch, Maentwrog, Trawsfynydd, Dolgellau, Cader Idris, Bala, Corwen and Llangollen, 25 August-1 September (ff. 20-142). The travellers then returned to London via Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Birmingham and Oxford (ff. 142-152). A 'Synopsis of Expenses, &c.' is on ff. 153 verso-154.

Tour of North Wales and the Marches

Journal of Thomas Letts, September 1833, describing a tour in North Wales and the area around Bristol, Ross, Chepstow and Gloucester, with illustrations in pencil, watercolour and wash.
The tour included Bath (ff. 3 verso-4, 11-13), Bristol (ff. 4 verso-19 verso passim), Monmouthshire (ff. 19 verso-28 verso passim), Ross-on-Wye (ff. 28 verso-29 verso, 31 verso-32 verso, 34 recto-verso), Gloucester (ff. 36 verso-39), Cheltenham (ff. 39-41), Worcester (ff. 42 verso-44 verso), Dinas Mawddwy (f. 56 recto-verso), Cader Idris (ff. 66-68 verso), Dolgellau (ff. 78 verso-84 passim), the Vale of Ffestiniog (ff. 88 verso-123 verso passim), Rhuddlan (ff. 149 verso, 153), St Asaph (f. 153 recto-verso), Denbigh (ff. 153 verso-154 verso, 156), Betws-y-Coed (f. 160 recto-verso), Menai Bridge (f. 161 verso), and Llanddeiniolen (ff. 163 recto-verso, 165).

Tour of parts of England

Journal describing tours of parts of England, January-August 1831, by Thomas Letts, with illustrations, sketches and maps.
The volume consists of excursions to Birmingham, 26-[30] January 1831, mainly to inspect various factories and canals (ff. 1-36 verso); and to Cambridge to visit his brother John at Sydney [i.e. Sidney Sussex] College, 20-[28] February 1831 (ff. 37-59 verso); brief excursions to Sevenoaks, Kent, 7-8 May 1831 (ff. 60-70), and to Windsor, Berkshire, 2-[4] July 1831 (ff. 70 verso-90 verso); and a tour of Coventry, Warwick, Birmingham, Lichfield, Burton upon Trent and Derby, [17]-22 August 1831 (ff. 91-137 verso). The volume includes eighteen full-page illustrations in pencil, watercolour and wash, mostly original and a few derivative; twenty-one smaller diagrams and sketches in ink and pencil (the majority on ff. 8 verso-34 verso passim), and ten manuscript strip maps in ink and watercolour, all relating to the final tour (ff. 95, 106, 113, 128, 133). Pasted into the volume are a printed map of England and Wales (ff. xii verso-xiii), and printed street maps of Birmingham, 1829 (tipped in on f. xiii verso), and Cambridge (ff. 42 verso-43).

Tour of Scotland, &c.

Journal of a tour of Scotland and parts of England, 20 July-20 August 1847, by Thomas Letts, travelling with his wife Emma. The volume includes thirty-four full-page illustrations in pencil, watercolour and wash, some original and some derivative.
The journal begins with brief tours of Derbyshire and the Peak District (ff. 2-9) and the Lake District (ff. 9 verso-21). In Scotland they travelled from Gretna Green (f. 21 verso) to Glasgow (ff. 28 verso, 31 recto-verso, 33) and Loch Lomond (f. 35), as far west as Loch Awe (f. 42), north to Killiekranckie (f. 55), back through the Trossachs (ff. 67 verso-71), then to Stirling (ff. 72-75) and Edinburgh (ff. 76 verso-84). They returned to London through the Scottish Borders (ff. 83 verso-96 verso) and parts of eastern England, including Lincoln (ff. 101-105). Also included in the volume are seven printed engravings, mostly of Lincoln (ff. 102-104, 106-108, 111).