Alfred C. Barnes European travel account, photographs, and commendation, 1861-1904 (bulk 1873).
- Author:
- Barnes, Alfred C.
- Physical Description:
- 2 volumes + 3 items
- Restrictions on Access:
- Unrestricted access.
- Summary:
- The collection includes a carte-de-visite of Barnes in Civil War uniform, 1861; a cabinet photograph of him, labeled Gen. A.C. Barnes, by Gardner & Co., Brooklyn, N.Y.; a calligraphic commendation of Barnes issued by the Grand Army of the Republic, Lafayette Post No. 140, 2 December 1904, upon his death; and two volumes of his letters home to family members while he took his extended family on a nine-month tour of Europe in 1873.
Barnes decided to keep his regular journal in the form of these detailed, expressive letters sent home to members of the large, close-knit Barnes/Richardson family. Written to individuals, the letters were meant to be shared among all; upon his return he gathered the letters, arranged them chronologically, indexed, and bound them into two morocco leather oblong volumes.
Volume 1 (February-June 1873) covers the family's travels in England, Italy, France, Bavaria, and Switzerland; volume 2 (July-November 1873) describes the return through Bavaria, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and back to France, England, and New York. They do the Grand Tour with a side trip to Copenhagen, with the trusty Baedeker guidebook in hand.
The family visits castles, theaters, gardens, parks, libraries, zoos, and a silk-weaving factory. The enjoy puppets, concerts, merry-go-rounds, ice cream, and Alpine mountaineering on donkey-back and on foot; they compare wax museums, and shop for India shawls. Barnes reflects on the wonders and horrors of Herculaneum and Pompeii, remarks on the number of big dogs in Bern, and recounts sermons heard.
Barnes pays particular attention to the art museums and galleries of art for sale, spending eleven days at the Vienna exhibition. He describes and comments on the classical art, as well as the contemporary artists and their work, particularly Edmonia Lewis, the African-American/Chippewa sculptor, working in Rome. - Subject(s):
- Barnes, Alfred C.—Correspondence
- Lewis, Edmonia
- Art—Exhibitions—Europe—19th century
- Art museums—Europe—19th century
- Austria—Description and travel
- Bavaria (Germany)—Description and travel
- Belgium—Description and travel
- Denmark—Description and travel
- England—Description and travel
- France—Description and travel
- Germany—Description and travel
- Italy—Description and travel
- Netherlands—Description and travel
- Switzerland—Description and travel
- Genre(s):
- Collection:
- Allison-Shelley Manuscript Collection.
- Note:
- In Rare Books and Manuscripts, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. (#2001-0118R/A-S Mss. book)
- Source of Acquisition:
- Purchased from Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company, 2001.
- Administrative History:
- Alfred C. Barnes was a publisher of school books, religious books, and popular history in New York. He died in 1904.
- Action Note:
- Rare Books copy: housed; 20200316; box. Phase box with mylar L sleeves for photographs.
Rare Books copy: condition reviewed; 20200316; brittle. Fragile pages.
View MARC record | catkey: 2199433