Travels in Europe Between the Years 1824 and 1828 Adapted to the Use of Travellers Starke, Mariana Travel writing

First edition. Comprising: title page, Advertisement & Errata, then 604 pages + folding engraving. The book is firmly bound in contemporary full vellum, with gilt decoration and gilt-lettered and decorated black title label to the spine, blue specking to all edges of the text block and grey endpapers front and rear. The vellum is slightly grubby, marked and toned, with some bumping to the extremities. The text block is slightly toned and foxed, with a few dog-eared page corners and occasional pencil highlighting. With excellent provenance, originally the property of notable Scottish advocate, antiquary, author and traveller, Alexander Thomson of Banchory (1798-1868), with his armorial bookplate to the front pastedown, and the ink ownership inscription of Jessy Thomson (1799-1870), who he married in 1825. The pencil highlighting indicates that they used the book for practical purposes during their travels on the continent. Starke was a renowned traveller and pioneered a new style of travel-writing, which served as a template for later guides throughout the nineteenth century, providing practical advice regarding matters of food and luggage, in addition to musings upon the sublime horror of the landscape or grandeur of the classical architecture. This book updates and builds significantly upon her 1820 work 'Travels on the Continent', and includes a guide to the Island of Sicily. It is rare in commerce and this is a particularly handsome example.