CIRCA 1860 HANDWRITTEN DIARY ITALY RAIL FOOT & BOAT FAMOUS AMERICAN AUTHOR139pp
Item History & Price
Up for auction is a spectacular handwritten travel diary circa 1860.The diary was written by Rossiter Worthington Raymond. He had an incredible background that is worth mentioning before I describe the diary. Raymond was a virtual polymath and well known American mining engineer, legal scholar, and author. At his memorial, the President of Lehigh University described him as "one of the most remarkable cases of versatility that our country has ever seen—sailor, soldier, engineer, lawy...er, orator, editor, novelist, story-teller, poet, biblical critic, theologian, teacher, chess-player—he was superior in each capacity. What he did, he always did well”.
Having attended college at the Royal Mining Academy, Freiberg, Saxony, the University of Heidelberg and the University of Munich, 1858-1861. Rossiter would start his post graduate career serving as aide-de-camp, with the rank of captain, on the staff of John C. Frémont, by whom, during his Civil War campaign in the Valley of Virginia, he was officially commended for gallant and meritorious conduct.In the 1860s as well, he helped form the short-lived American Mining Bureau, a forerunner of the American Institute of Mining Engineers.
This is just a quick biography of an extraordinary gentlemen there is much to discover about Raymond. In regard to the diary it contains 139 double sided numbered leaves in a folio sized volume. He writes in a clear hand that’s easy to decipher in pencil. He wrote the diary while when he attended the University of Heidelberg 1858-1861. He leaves Heidelberg and takes a spectacular journey for pleasure to Italy in 1860. Raymond than travels by train, carriage, foot, and boat filling his diary with keen observations, and insights about the country. This was a traumatic time in Italy Garibaldi was on the offensive and battles raged during the Campaign of 1860. Raymond is even stopped by Garibaldi’s troops and interrogated at length. His writing is quite descriptive, and enjoyable to read. He appears to be sending out reports and stories to various publications (see photo for details. ) One in particular went to Mr. Murray's of Murray's Guide book fame.
Raymond writes a description of sorts at the top of each leave. I compiled a partial list of these titles : Scenery, and Beer, Pretty Work ! Mantura, Flying Ferries, And how they fly, Garibaldi His Men & Post, Capri, Sudden Tapering off, Rome & Naples, The Hills of Genzano, Caught ! Drying at the Cistern In Fundi, Birthplace of the Devil & Tomb of Cicero, Sketch and a Picture, Hill Life, Where’s My Bag? A Remarkable Figure ! The Milan Cathedral, Arrival- at Rival Hotel, Carriages & Footmen, Vesuvius. In regard to condition: The diary is bound in a paper hardcover folio sized journal measuring10x6 the spine is missing but the leaves are still bound in place. Expect some light staining to the interior leaves first and last are heavily toned.
Diary excerpts from much longer passages. I only transcribed a fraction of the content. There is of course much more to discover. Any questions feel free to ask.
Pretty Work ! - Train for Verona,
Jan 17, 1860
The afternoon train for Verona where I arrived late in the evening. It was dark and so foggy that the lights of the Port Nuova could not be seen from the station. I nearly lost myself crossing the space of desert ground which lies between to two.Once within the walls of the town however, I knew my way to the great Piazza Bria and passing under the shadows of the powering amphitheater I found out at last the wings of Columba.Flying Ferries Mantura
The horse was not unmarkedly fine & the equipage still less striking. However I was consoled by the assurance of the driver that both should be changed on the way. Any chance would be an improvement ! I thought alas! I had something yet to learn! For miles I rode along though an unbroken plain intersected by ditches in every direction and carried here and there by forts. The overlooks of the fortifications which seemed like an enormous distance- or by rustic little villages which where covered with luxurious vegetation of summer. We were hurried across the Po by a “ Flying Ferry “ like those in use at Nukar Stomach on the Neckar and Spriess on the Rhine. This one however was very clumsy and difficult to manage and the Po at this point this time seemed to be full of shallows and eddies so that the force of the cataract cannot be relied upon to propel a boat.
Jan 20, 1860 - Fumagalli
At the first town in the Dutchy of Cordua ( called I tiny Novi) I was examined by the commander of the advanced posts Captain Fumagalli. He is one of the most magnificent looking men it is possible to imagine- seven feet in height and massive in proportion it is certain the red haired big, bearded giant made me small & tremble in my boots. However as that was the only was I did not trouble - I hope it wasn’t ?
He spoke to me in French and while I was laboriously endeavored to answer his questions in that language. He suddenly asked “ Do you speak German?” Without stopping I think I eagerly began to talk to him in German, which was to say that least so much better than my French that he looked at me in great suspicion and at last significantly interrupted - How came you by this passport Sir !” I replied with assured breeding mfs- ( Because I’m an American & how do suppose Sir !( or German words to the summary affect !)
Cheerful under Difficulties !
So out we went again into the rain, over the plowed fields the hedge & the ditches and scrapping the mud from our feet started briskly forward vexed at the delay which had only chilled us to no purpose. In no long time we had enough. The rain poured from our hats elbows and knees, as though we were desperately ? How we became trapped in all of the places. We are passing through a portion of the county noted for robberies. The trees on either side of the road were cleaned away so as not afford any shelter for ambushes. To guards from the army patrolling on horseback passed us in mud, splashing along apparently more sensible than us.Indeed I think we were quite surprised by it.
Rome to Naples
April 10, 1860
The days of ? being completed the ceremonies of Holy Week duty attended the illumination of St Peters the fireworks on the Primcian not sum on account of the rain or cold. Last night we bid all the folks of our reception in Rome at Nos- 54. & 5 Via Gugoriana an appropriate and somewhat privileged and repeated adiu and I went now to the boys lodging to spend the night in order to be prepare for an early start. On account of the muddy state of the Campana we determined to go as far as Frascati by railway. Accordingly at half past five we were quietly seated around our stops and added coffee preparing to setting out.
An Orange Orchard
A cup of villainous coffee made us glad to get out of Fondi and the exorbitant charge of the cafe waiter confirmed us in half of Murray’s statement that this town is a great nest for robbers.The road in this neighborhood is thickly studded with posts for grandames and the average amount of robberies on the highway is quite reduced. One or two a month or perhaps in bad seasons was up is the present rate but no to the stranger who drinks dandelion extract in the cafe del ercida!) A short distance out of Findi we came across a magnificent orchard of orange and lemon trees and overcome by temptation they presented turned in at the gate and bargained with the gardeners for some of the fruit.
Birthplace of the Devil & Tomb of Cicero
Four miles noon brought us to Itn, the birthplace of Fra Diablo I made a rough sketch of the place in honor of its distinguished son it is picturesquely situated, and the hill it conforms to its description in stagnant puddles & it was the last town. We passed Itn & its old ruined castle without examining it closely we struck out briskly on the last five miles of the days walk .The scenery was of possibly still more lovely than before. Itn is situated at the foot of the pass and the beginning of another. A precipitous ravine through a stream rushed gave a passenger to the road for some distance and was than crossed by it over a splendid viaduct.
Pompeii
April 16, 1860
It was a beautiful day we were free and went on to the railway station and took the cars for Pompeii where we expected to meet with the “ folks”- in spite of several beggars men, boys, girls, blind musical and various by deformed we reached at last the entrance of the dead city, but found that on could not enter the streets, without our of the Royal Gilders so we walked around on the outside of the city as far as the gate of the tombs when the rest of the folks were coming to meet us. There was a grassy field there on the hillside with many times and fields of flowers. We laid ourselves down on the grass to wait but the carriages did not come for two hours.We entered the gate of Tombs- so called because it ends the street on which most of the tombs were.
Amphitheaters and Forums
The Amphitheater was a very pretty and tolerably larger one. It was situated like many of the theaters of antiquity where the spectators had a view of the beautiful landscape which stitched itself around them. The fact that these buildings were not roofed explains this circumstance.The heavens for a dome - Vesuvius, Capori, the Bay of Naples for scenic walls - such surroundings might well enhance the dignity of power, tragedy or lend additional impressiveness to a gladiatorial show. The forum must have been a splendid gathering place I think the greatest of the Romans had some foundation in this being an open air people-
Vesuvius
May 1, 1860
Today we ascended Vesuvius - At Rasoma over the site of ancient Herculaneum, the whole party except Sam and I who prepared to go on foot were accommodated with horses, mules or donkeys. On one of the latter animals sat may Lodge and Susan whose constant attendant I became so soon as she finds herself in the perilous situation.
The Cone
Jack Fred Sam and I - started on foot. It was pretty tough work. There was no footing but loose sharp lava which cut now sole entirely off, before I reached the summit and it was in places so sharp I cut my hand somewhat in aiding myself by it. However nothing is as hard as it looks and in an hour or more we were at the top.I was the first to get there and felt proud of the achievement , though my ragged boot promised no delightful sensations on the way down.
Backround about Raymond from Wikipedia
Rossiter Worthington Raymond (April 27, 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio – December 31, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York) was an American mining engineer, legal scholar and author. At his memorial, the President of Lehigh University described him as "one of the most remarkable cases of versatility that our country has ever seen—sailor, soldier, engineer, lawyer, orator, editor, novelist, story-teller, poet, biblical critic, theologian, teacher, chess-player—he was superior in each capacity. What he did, he always did well.
His father, Robert Raikes Raymond (1817-1888), was a native of New York City, a graduate of Union College (New York) in 1837, editor of the Syracuse Free Democrat in 1852 and Evening Chronicle in 1853-4, and later professor of English in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and principal of the Boston School of Oratory. His mother (born 1818, died 1891) was a native of Providence, Rhode Island. They were married at Columbus, Ohio, in 1839. Rossiter was the eldest of a family of seven children, of whom four were sons and three daughters.
He received his early education in the common schools of Syracuse, New York, where his parents participated in the underground railroad, and in 1857 entered the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, of which his uncle, John H. Raymond (later president of Vassar College), was then president. Raymond graduated from that institution at the head of his class in 1858. Having attended college at the Royal Mining Academy, Freiberg, Saxony, the University of Heidelberg and the University of Munich, 1858-1861, Rossiter would start his post graduate career serving as aide-de-camp, with the rank of captain, on the staff of John C. Frémont, by whom, during his Civil War campaign in the Valley of Virginia, he was officially commended for gallant and meritorious conduct.
In the 1860s as well, he helped form the short-lived American Mining Bureau, a forerunner of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. An original member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, he had, at first, the "Engineering & Mining Journal" serve as its official member publication, and published many of the AIME technical reports prior to publication in its Transactions. He served as one AIME's first vice-presidents in 1871, and again in 1876, and 1877, was president from 1872 to 1875, and long-term secretary from 1884 to 1911. His New York City office became the unofficial center for the mining engineering fraternity. As secretary he also edited 40 of the annual volumes of Transactions, to which he liberally contributed essays, especially pertaining to the Federal mining laws, as well as other articles of importance. In 1945, the institute created the Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award after him, to recognize the best paper written each year by an author under 33 years of age.
He was a long-time supporter of Brooklyn's Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, and was the director of its Sunday school for 50 years. His role in the church was so influential that he was asked to take over for Henry Ward Beecher when Beecher died. He would also play an important role during the Beecher-Tildon scandal.From 1870 to 1872, he was the professor of ore deposits at Lafayette College, which in 1868 had conferred on him an honorary doctorate. He was the United States Commissioner to the Vienna Exposition. In 1871, he was a part of the a six-member party that entered what is now Yellowstone National Park, running into the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 in the process. Raymond's party is officially known as the first group of visitors to enter a National Park, though it technically wasn't a national park at the time.
Rossiter recorded the visit in his 1880 book Camp and Cabin. The visit was also recorded by Calvin C. Clawson, a reporter for the New Northwest Newspaper. Pictures were taken by August F. Thrasher who, according to Mary C. H. Williams, carried negative plates and photos of the Yellowstone journey as far east as Indiana where the trail grows cold. In 1885, he was the New York State Commissioner of Electrical Subways.
Rossiter consulted for Cooper, Hewitt & Company for some twenty plus years, and then Hewitt's and Cooper's American Sulphur Company in 1890.In 1911, during a visit to Japan as members and guests of the American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME), Raymond received from the Mikado the distinction of Chevalier of the Order of the Rising Sun, fourth class—the highest ever given to foreigners not of royal blood—' "for eminent services to the mining industry of Japan". These services consisted in advice and assistance rendered in America to Japanese engineers, students, and officials throughout a period of more than 25 years.
Having attended college at the Royal Mining Academy, Freiberg, Saxony, the University of Heidelberg and the University of Munich, 1858-1861. Rossiter would start his post graduate career serving as aide-de-camp, with the rank of captain, on the staff of John C. Frémont, by whom, during his Civil War campaign in the Valley of Virginia, he was officially commended for gallant and meritorious conduct.In the 1860s as well, he helped form the short-lived American Mining Bureau, a forerunner of the American Institute of Mining Engineers.
This is just a quick biography of an extraordinary gentlemen there is much to discover about Raymond. In regard to the diary it contains 139 double sided numbered leaves in a folio sized volume. He writes in a clear hand that’s easy to decipher in pencil. He wrote the diary while when he attended the University of Heidelberg 1858-1861. He leaves Heidelberg and takes a spectacular journey for pleasure to Italy in 1860. Raymond than travels by train, carriage, foot, and boat filling his diary with keen observations, and insights about the country. This was a traumatic time in Italy Garibaldi was on the offensive and battles raged during the Campaign of 1860. Raymond is even stopped by Garibaldi’s troops and interrogated at length. His writing is quite descriptive, and enjoyable to read. He appears to be sending out reports and stories to various publications (see photo for details. ) One in particular went to Mr. Murray's of Murray's Guide book fame.
Raymond writes a description of sorts at the top of each leave. I compiled a partial list of these titles : Scenery, and Beer, Pretty Work ! Mantura, Flying Ferries, And how they fly, Garibaldi His Men & Post, Capri, Sudden Tapering off, Rome & Naples, The Hills of Genzano, Caught ! Drying at the Cistern In Fundi, Birthplace of the Devil & Tomb of Cicero, Sketch and a Picture, Hill Life, Where’s My Bag? A Remarkable Figure ! The Milan Cathedral, Arrival- at Rival Hotel, Carriages & Footmen, Vesuvius. In regard to condition: The diary is bound in a paper hardcover folio sized journal measuring10x6 the spine is missing but the leaves are still bound in place. Expect some light staining to the interior leaves first and last are heavily toned.
Diary excerpts from much longer passages. I only transcribed a fraction of the content. There is of course much more to discover. Any questions feel free to ask.
Pretty Work ! - Train for Verona,
Jan 17, 1860
The afternoon train for Verona where I arrived late in the evening. It was dark and so foggy that the lights of the Port Nuova could not be seen from the station. I nearly lost myself crossing the space of desert ground which lies between to two.Once within the walls of the town however, I knew my way to the great Piazza Bria and passing under the shadows of the powering amphitheater I found out at last the wings of Columba.Flying Ferries Mantura
The horse was not unmarkedly fine & the equipage still less striking. However I was consoled by the assurance of the driver that both should be changed on the way. Any chance would be an improvement ! I thought alas! I had something yet to learn! For miles I rode along though an unbroken plain intersected by ditches in every direction and carried here and there by forts. The overlooks of the fortifications which seemed like an enormous distance- or by rustic little villages which where covered with luxurious vegetation of summer. We were hurried across the Po by a “ Flying Ferry “ like those in use at Nukar Stomach on the Neckar and Spriess on the Rhine. This one however was very clumsy and difficult to manage and the Po at this point this time seemed to be full of shallows and eddies so that the force of the cataract cannot be relied upon to propel a boat.
Jan 20, 1860 - Fumagalli
At the first town in the Dutchy of Cordua ( called I tiny Novi) I was examined by the commander of the advanced posts Captain Fumagalli. He is one of the most magnificent looking men it is possible to imagine- seven feet in height and massive in proportion it is certain the red haired big, bearded giant made me small & tremble in my boots. However as that was the only was I did not trouble - I hope it wasn’t ?
He spoke to me in French and while I was laboriously endeavored to answer his questions in that language. He suddenly asked “ Do you speak German?” Without stopping I think I eagerly began to talk to him in German, which was to say that least so much better than my French that he looked at me in great suspicion and at last significantly interrupted - How came you by this passport Sir !” I replied with assured breeding mfs- ( Because I’m an American & how do suppose Sir !( or German words to the summary affect !)
Cheerful under Difficulties !
So out we went again into the rain, over the plowed fields the hedge & the ditches and scrapping the mud from our feet started briskly forward vexed at the delay which had only chilled us to no purpose. In no long time we had enough. The rain poured from our hats elbows and knees, as though we were desperately ? How we became trapped in all of the places. We are passing through a portion of the county noted for robberies. The trees on either side of the road were cleaned away so as not afford any shelter for ambushes. To guards from the army patrolling on horseback passed us in mud, splashing along apparently more sensible than us.Indeed I think we were quite surprised by it.
Rome to Naples
April 10, 1860
The days of ? being completed the ceremonies of Holy Week duty attended the illumination of St Peters the fireworks on the Primcian not sum on account of the rain or cold. Last night we bid all the folks of our reception in Rome at Nos- 54. & 5 Via Gugoriana an appropriate and somewhat privileged and repeated adiu and I went now to the boys lodging to spend the night in order to be prepare for an early start. On account of the muddy state of the Campana we determined to go as far as Frascati by railway. Accordingly at half past five we were quietly seated around our stops and added coffee preparing to setting out.
An Orange Orchard
A cup of villainous coffee made us glad to get out of Fondi and the exorbitant charge of the cafe waiter confirmed us in half of Murray’s statement that this town is a great nest for robbers.The road in this neighborhood is thickly studded with posts for grandames and the average amount of robberies on the highway is quite reduced. One or two a month or perhaps in bad seasons was up is the present rate but no to the stranger who drinks dandelion extract in the cafe del ercida!) A short distance out of Findi we came across a magnificent orchard of orange and lemon trees and overcome by temptation they presented turned in at the gate and bargained with the gardeners for some of the fruit.
Birthplace of the Devil & Tomb of Cicero
Four miles noon brought us to Itn, the birthplace of Fra Diablo I made a rough sketch of the place in honor of its distinguished son it is picturesquely situated, and the hill it conforms to its description in stagnant puddles & it was the last town. We passed Itn & its old ruined castle without examining it closely we struck out briskly on the last five miles of the days walk .The scenery was of possibly still more lovely than before. Itn is situated at the foot of the pass and the beginning of another. A precipitous ravine through a stream rushed gave a passenger to the road for some distance and was than crossed by it over a splendid viaduct.
Pompeii
April 16, 1860
It was a beautiful day we were free and went on to the railway station and took the cars for Pompeii where we expected to meet with the “ folks”- in spite of several beggars men, boys, girls, blind musical and various by deformed we reached at last the entrance of the dead city, but found that on could not enter the streets, without our of the Royal Gilders so we walked around on the outside of the city as far as the gate of the tombs when the rest of the folks were coming to meet us. There was a grassy field there on the hillside with many times and fields of flowers. We laid ourselves down on the grass to wait but the carriages did not come for two hours.We entered the gate of Tombs- so called because it ends the street on which most of the tombs were.
Amphitheaters and Forums
The Amphitheater was a very pretty and tolerably larger one. It was situated like many of the theaters of antiquity where the spectators had a view of the beautiful landscape which stitched itself around them. The fact that these buildings were not roofed explains this circumstance.The heavens for a dome - Vesuvius, Capori, the Bay of Naples for scenic walls - such surroundings might well enhance the dignity of power, tragedy or lend additional impressiveness to a gladiatorial show. The forum must have been a splendid gathering place I think the greatest of the Romans had some foundation in this being an open air people-
Vesuvius
May 1, 1860
Today we ascended Vesuvius - At Rasoma over the site of ancient Herculaneum, the whole party except Sam and I who prepared to go on foot were accommodated with horses, mules or donkeys. On one of the latter animals sat may Lodge and Susan whose constant attendant I became so soon as she finds herself in the perilous situation.
The Cone
Jack Fred Sam and I - started on foot. It was pretty tough work. There was no footing but loose sharp lava which cut now sole entirely off, before I reached the summit and it was in places so sharp I cut my hand somewhat in aiding myself by it. However nothing is as hard as it looks and in an hour or more we were at the top.I was the first to get there and felt proud of the achievement , though my ragged boot promised no delightful sensations on the way down.
Backround about Raymond from Wikipedia
Rossiter Worthington Raymond (April 27, 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio – December 31, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York) was an American mining engineer, legal scholar and author. At his memorial, the President of Lehigh University described him as "one of the most remarkable cases of versatility that our country has ever seen—sailor, soldier, engineer, lawyer, orator, editor, novelist, story-teller, poet, biblical critic, theologian, teacher, chess-player—he was superior in each capacity. What he did, he always did well.
His father, Robert Raikes Raymond (1817-1888), was a native of New York City, a graduate of Union College (New York) in 1837, editor of the Syracuse Free Democrat in 1852 and Evening Chronicle in 1853-4, and later professor of English in the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and principal of the Boston School of Oratory. His mother (born 1818, died 1891) was a native of Providence, Rhode Island. They were married at Columbus, Ohio, in 1839. Rossiter was the eldest of a family of seven children, of whom four were sons and three daughters.
He received his early education in the common schools of Syracuse, New York, where his parents participated in the underground railroad, and in 1857 entered the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, of which his uncle, John H. Raymond (later president of Vassar College), was then president. Raymond graduated from that institution at the head of his class in 1858. Having attended college at the Royal Mining Academy, Freiberg, Saxony, the University of Heidelberg and the University of Munich, 1858-1861, Rossiter would start his post graduate career serving as aide-de-camp, with the rank of captain, on the staff of John C. Frémont, by whom, during his Civil War campaign in the Valley of Virginia, he was officially commended for gallant and meritorious conduct.
In the 1860s as well, he helped form the short-lived American Mining Bureau, a forerunner of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. An original member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, he had, at first, the "Engineering & Mining Journal" serve as its official member publication, and published many of the AIME technical reports prior to publication in its Transactions. He served as one AIME's first vice-presidents in 1871, and again in 1876, and 1877, was president from 1872 to 1875, and long-term secretary from 1884 to 1911. His New York City office became the unofficial center for the mining engineering fraternity. As secretary he also edited 40 of the annual volumes of Transactions, to which he liberally contributed essays, especially pertaining to the Federal mining laws, as well as other articles of importance. In 1945, the institute created the Rossiter W. Raymond Memorial Award after him, to recognize the best paper written each year by an author under 33 years of age.
He was a long-time supporter of Brooklyn's Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, and was the director of its Sunday school for 50 years. His role in the church was so influential that he was asked to take over for Henry Ward Beecher when Beecher died. He would also play an important role during the Beecher-Tildon scandal.From 1870 to 1872, he was the professor of ore deposits at Lafayette College, which in 1868 had conferred on him an honorary doctorate. He was the United States Commissioner to the Vienna Exposition. In 1871, he was a part of the a six-member party that entered what is now Yellowstone National Park, running into the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 in the process. Raymond's party is officially known as the first group of visitors to enter a National Park, though it technically wasn't a national park at the time.
Rossiter recorded the visit in his 1880 book Camp and Cabin. The visit was also recorded by Calvin C. Clawson, a reporter for the New Northwest Newspaper. Pictures were taken by August F. Thrasher who, according to Mary C. H. Williams, carried negative plates and photos of the Yellowstone journey as far east as Indiana where the trail grows cold. In 1885, he was the New York State Commissioner of Electrical Subways.
Rossiter consulted for Cooper, Hewitt & Company for some twenty plus years, and then Hewitt's and Cooper's American Sulphur Company in 1890.In 1911, during a visit to Japan as members and guests of the American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME), Raymond received from the Mikado the distinction of Chevalier of the Order of the Rising Sun, fourth class—the highest ever given to foreigners not of royal blood—' "for eminent services to the mining industry of Japan". These services consisted in advice and assistance rendered in America to Japanese engineers, students, and officials throughout a period of more than 25 years.
