Thomas Jefferson

Destination: Europe

Book: Thomas Jefferson’s Travels in Europe, 1784-1789 by George Green Shackelford

If you think of our founding fathers as a bunch of old guys in wigs who had their noses stuck in books and their travels limited to the Eastern Seaboard, think again. Well, the wig part is right.

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams took advantage of their ambassadorial positions in Europe to see the (civilized) world on adventurous road trips. As a matter of fact, John Adams son, John Quincy Adams even went as far as St. Petersburg, Russia when he was only 14 yeas old–but that is a story for another day. Today we are tracing the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson’s Travels in Europe, 1784-1789, a continental grand tour that any post grad backpacker traveling in Europe would envy today.

All things considered, the conditions of travel probably did not always rise to the luxury of staying in hostels and traveling third class on the train.  And that is one of the things that I liked about this book, it manages to recreate for you, not just the route that Jefferson took, but the conditions of travel of the day. Having to change horses every 10 to 12 miles and changing wheels on the carriage every couple of days meant slow progress, indeed. He did not have to wash his own socks, since he had servants with him to ease the way. Shackelford says, “Jefferson traveled so light that one small trunk held all his clothes, even though he did have a lot of washing done on the way and bought occasional extra clothes, such as canes, gloves, hats, and stockings.”

In between  overnights at inns which were of questionable character, Jefferson visited the great houses of Europe, and not because he wanted to be wined and dined in high style. No, always a farmer at heart, he took copious notes about the plant life, the growing season and conditions. He also lugged along with him some books on architecture, another fascination, and studied the new styles of building that he later copied in designing Monticello, the University of Virginia and the State Capitol of Virginia.

Europe Map

Following in this scholarly vein, Shackelford reports, Jefferson purchased guidebooks and maps at each important stop along the way, to help him navigate in foreign lands. The impressive map of his journeys that fronts this book describes three large loops around England, France and the Netherlands into what is now Germany. A smaller loop leads from southern France, along the Mediterranean and up into what is now Italy.

In February 1787 he set out from Paris on a twelve-hundred-mile trip that lasted until early summer.Quite a road trip. Thanks to his journals and letters and strict accounting for expenses–which always seemed to outrun his budget–we have a pretty detailed record of his travels. In a letter to his secretary, William Short, he said, “architecture, painting, sculpture, antiquities, agriculture and and condition of the labouring poor fill all my moments.”

This book, itself scholarly, is crammed with footnotes and a lengthy bibliography.  How enticing, though, to think of following Jefferson’s route. Someone needs to make an everyday guidebook  of Jefferson’s travel’s through Europe that we can all follow, but until then, Schakelford’s book can be our travel guide for our own road trip around Europe.

Photo of Jefferson Portrait by “Cliff1066,” Flickr, through Creative Commons. Photo of Map by “histoirepostale,” Flickr, through Creative Commons.

Tomorrow, a brand new book about a remote part of the world, and on Friday in France, a new historic novel. Be sure to come back to see the new books on the shelf!

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

John Adams outside Quincy City Hall

We visited Quincy Massachusetts, and looked for clues to the lives of the family of John Adams. Any reader should travel there and see the John Quincy Adams library! But I wrote about John Adams’ biography, a kind of time-travel book, back in July. In the city of Boston, we booked rooms at the amazing Nine Zero hotel. Kimpton Hotels, the group that owns Nine Zero, likes to say the hotel is located across from the Boston Commons. I don’t suppose it is good P. R. to say you are across from a graveyard. Directly across the street, you can visit the 2nd oldest cemetery in Boston, the Granary, which holds the graves of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere and the unfortunates who were shot by the British soldiers in what the American Revolutionary’s P.R. agents called the “Boston Massacre.”

Tombstone of the vicitims of the Boston Massacre

I was beginning to suspect that nothing is quite as it seems in Boston, which makes for good stories. People still leave coins and stones on the  gravestone of Crispus Attucks and the others, although the stones may have moved far from the original burial location. Turns out, I could have been looking down from my hotel room on the home of a fictional character who makes a living doubting what he is told. Spenser, P.I. Robert B. Parker wrote the Spenser mystery series.  And mystery books, as my regular reader know, make the best books for travelers.  Spenser lives just two blocks from the Boston Commons. When I read several Spenser novels, and watched the old Spenser for Hire shows on T.V., I was not studying what they had to say about Boston, so I quickly grabbed an old Spenser that I had not read yet, The Godwulf Manuscript (1973). That mystery novel, or any other of the 37 Spenser novels, could have provided a tour book for Boston.  Had I thought to look at Robert Parker’s website, I could have eaten at Spenser’s favorite restaurants*. The hard-boiled detective Spenser distinguishes himself from other shamuses in that he is well-read and does not hesitate to quote literary passages from time to time. He also cooks. No canned hash for him–In Godwulf, after he rescues a damsel in distress, he cooks up a dinner for her of chicken breasts with a cream sauce with sherry and mushrooms over rice, accompanied by a salad with homemade dressing with lime juice, mint, olive oil, honey and wine vinegar.

Rooftops of Boston with Boston Commons. Charles River in background

Parker’s/Spenser’s sense of observation is keen, and you learn every detail of the look, smell and sound of his home town.  When Spenser drives to check a clue, you get a tour as good as a travel guidebook.  Here’s an example: We went down along the Charles on Memorial Drive and across the Mass Ave bridge.  Boston always looks great form there.  Especially at night, with the lights and the skyline against the starry sky and the sweep of the river in a a graceful curve down toward the harbor. Now if we ignore the murder and mayhem that precede and follow this excerpt, doesn’t that make you want to go to Boston? If you want more touring details, look for an out- of- print copy of Robert B. Parker’s coffee table book,  Spenser’s Boston (1994).

*Spenser’s Top 5 Restaurants In Boston [Note: These came from his website in 2009. Since Parker passed away in 2011, the website has been changed, and this list has been removed.]

• Agawam Diner — Rowley (Rt. 1 and 133, Rowley MA)
• Grill 23 — Boston (Steak house: 161 Berkley in Back Bay)
• Sorellina — Boston (Modern Italian, Copley Square, Back Bay)
• Excelsior — Boston (currently closed and being revamped re their web site)
• Rialto – Cambridge (Harvard Square in Cambridge)

If you are a Spenser fan, have you ever followed his escapades through Boston?

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©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.

When I think of Boston, I think of 1776, the beginnings of the United States of America, and some amazing leaders. John Adams, my favorite founder, has been the subject of many biographies, but I can’t imagine any  more satisfying than John Adams by David McCullough. A little American history must go on the traveler’s library shelf in preparation for a trip to New England.

As I write, John Adams stares directly at me from the Gilbert Stuart painting reproduced on the book jacket.  He looks stern, intellectual, but also approachable and human. Alternatively, you may get the paperback book which cheats history by using a picture of Paul Giametti, who played John Adams on television.

McCullough portrays every detail of life in John Adam’s New England and Boston and how he hated to go down to Philadelphia for sessions of the Continental Congress. But traveling to Philadelphia, despite danger and outbreaks of disease is only one of the multitude of sacrifices made by the founders as they groped toward a democracy.

McCullough scores again with his book, 1776, a day by day tracing of the events of the beginning of the revolution.  So many things could have gone wrong. Our army was weak, our navy non-existent and our leaders playing the whole thing by ear. Perhaps a quote from John Adams explains the final outcome. “We cannot ensure success, but we can deserve it.”

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And here’s an English proverb for you—“A stumble can prevent a fall.”  So have you stumbled your favorite post from the traveler’s library,yet?

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.