TRAVELLING SKETCHES IN THE NORTH OF ITALY, THE TYROL, AND ON THE RHINE. WITH TWENTY-SIX BEAUTIFULLY FINISHED ENGRAVINGS, FROM DRAWINGS BY CLARKSON STANFIELD, Esq. BY LEITCH RITCHIE, Esq. AUTHOR OF THE "ROMANCE OF FRENCH HISTORY," &c. LONDON: LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN. 1832. A WORD PREFATORY. Most people understand that the word "sketch,” in painting, means a hasty and imperfect drawing, containing merely a sort of outline of the artist's ideas. The present literary sketches, however, must be looked upon as subordinate, only with reference to the more finished works of other writers; for in reality they have been executed to the best of the author's ability. They are SKETCHES, however, whatever be their merit or demerit, because they are necessarily brief; and because, for evident reasons, they want the continuity and gravity of interest which might have entitled the book to the distinction of a TOUR. In an age like this, when a taste for travel and a taste for the fine arts seem to grow together, it is not wonderful that to ransack the portfolio of an artist of genius, on his return from abroad, should be deemed a very fascinating employment. And perhaps, after all, when the drawings come to be iv published, the most useful literary accompaniment would be a common guide-book. Such works, however, already exist in sufficient abundance; and, instead of having recourse to the common expedient of reproducing, in a new form, the experience of former travellers, the author conceived the idea of presenting to the reader a set of bona fide sketches of his own, the result of impressions made upon his mind on the spot. The appearance in the midst of these, of relations which the profane will term romances, must be accounted for by the necessities of the ANNUAL-a plant, which, having been reared in an atmosphere of poetry and fiction, would, perhaps, run some risk of drooping if suddenly transplanted. The present volume comprehends a Journey through the North of Italy, the Tyrol, and along the banks of the Rhine as far as Strasbourg. Next year, the route will be continued down the Rhine to the sea, and through the most interesting portions of Holland and the Netherlands. London, October, 1831. |