Tour via Calais, Brussels & Berlin to St. Petersburg & Moscow : returning by way of Berlin, Herringsdorf, Dresden, Eisenach, Maintz, Cologne, Brussels & Calais, to London : June & July, 1899 : manuscript.
Published / Created:
Great Britain, 1899.
Physical Description:
1 volume (100 pages, with blanks) : illustrations ; 31 cm
Holdings:
Rare Books and Manuscripts DK26.T94 T6 1899+ OversizeYale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund
Copyright Status:
Copyright Not Evaluated
Classification:
Archives & Manuscripts
Notes:
Richard Walter Tweedie (1834-1916) was a prominent solicitor in London. In 1869, he married Mary Louisa (1849-1918), daughter of Charles John Baird, C.E., of Saint Petersburg. They had seven children, born between 1871 and 1886.Title from title page.Bound in contemporary half leather and and dark green cloth.Manuscript account of a tour from London to Russia, undertaken in 1899 by Richard Walter Tweedie and his wife Mary Louisa. The text is a clean copy version, written neatly in black ink. Interspersed are numerous illustrations, including photographs, postcards, and lithographs.The tour was arranged by Henry Gaze & Sons, a pioneer in commercial travel, and one of the earliest agents to organize tours to Russia. Motivation for the tour is noted at the begging of the account: "St Petersburg having been the birthplace of my wife, who passed the first eleven years of her life there, we had for a long time been meditating a visit to that city, and after 28 years of frustrated endeavours we succeeded, in the year of Grace 1899, in carrying out our plans for a tour which although very hurried may prove worthy of record for ourselves and members of our family."On reaching Saint Petersburg, Tweedie employs a guide, Ernest Gedrath, “who could speak English, and at once ascertained that he had formerly been in the service of some of my wife's family.” The guide was able to locate her mother's grave, of which they take photographs. Descriptions of Saint Petersburg and Moscow are lengthy, with particular interest in notable buildings, museums and churches. The Kremlin is described in detail. Hotels and meals are also well-noted. The latter half of the diary describes the return voyage, with substantial descriptions of Dresden and Eisenach.
Contents:
Items loosely inserted in the volume, and now removed to an accompanying folder, include: a passport for R.W. Tweedie and his wife, with numerous Russian stamps -- Notes by Tweedie titled "The peace & the millennium," with comments on passports, customs houses, treaties, and tourism (3 pages) -- postcard of Heringsdorf (R. Parow, publisher) -- "Das Wartburg-Buechlein," pamphlet, 24 pages, on the restoration of Wartburg Castle.
Subject Terms:
Tweedie, Richard Walter, 1834–1916. | Tweedie, Mary Louisa, 1849–1918. | Henry Gaze & Sons. | Kremlin (Moscow, Russia) | Wartburg (Eisenach, Germany) | Voyages and travels. | Russia -- Description and travel. | Saint Petersburg (Russia) -- Description and travel. | Moscow (Russia) -- Description and travel. | Brussels (Belgium) -- Description and travel. | Amsterdam (Netherlands) -- Description and travel. | Dresden (Germany) -- Description and travel. | Eisenach (Germany) -- Description and travel. | Seebad Heringsdorf (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany) -- Description and travel.