1893 Handwritten Travel Diary N. A. S. M. HOLLAND AMERICA LINE N. Y. To Rotterdam
Item History & Price
Up for auction is an Antique 1893 Handwritten Travel Diary written by a female writing about her travels aboard the N.A.S.M. (as it was called before Holland America Line) travelling from New York to Rotterdam, Netherlands, leaving on Saturday July 8th, 1893. She writes about her tour of the Netherlands and Germany. She is with her parents and others, possibly a member of a band playing on board the ship. I did not know it was written by a female until much later on when... she talks about dress shopping in Wiesbaden.The diary is a small travel sized diary with a pretty embossed leather cover with a slot for a small pen or pencil. It measures about 4 1/2 by 3 inches. The inside pages are also in nice condition except for discoloration. The diary has 2 first pages, the second more complete followed by a day by day description of her trip.The diary was not that easy to read because it was started from front to back and then switched over to back to front with plenty of blank pages in between. Some of the pages are random sentences and lists of possible band members from the ship. There is at least 40 pages of written pages.She did not really use punctuation or capital letter at the beginning of sentences. She spelled the word stayed like "staid".A couple of times she had the wrong date written but it was obvious what it should be.Nevertheless, it is a great accounting of her day to day travels aboard the ship and then her tour of the Netherlands and Germany. She talks of all the sights she sees as she travels in the Netherlands and then onto eventually Wiesbaden where she spends quite a bit of time.She sees the Lights of Rotterdam and the beautiful scenery of Rotterdam once she arrives. She went to The Hague, Delft, The Queens Palace where she saw a cabinet over 200-400 years old. She visited the museum of fine arts. She travelled to Weidesheim, Cologne, The Rhine, Bierbrich to see a Monument and a tree carved like a snake. She took a trip on the Rhine. She took a boat to Biebrich and from there took a carriage to Wiesbaden and went to Kurhaus Park. She gives daily detail of her travels in Wiesbaden and her daily trips to the Springs. She talks about different hotel she stays at. Some hard for me to read.The first couple of pages were written before she boarded the ship and the first page was written twice. She talks about leaving home on Friday morning July 7th and arrived in New York at 11 o'clock. She went and got tickets then took car to ferry and took boat to Hoboken and stopped at Hotel.She talks about having breakfast and going down to the ship. She speaks in detail of her time on the ship and things that she does and sees. She talks about passing Sandy Hook on July 9th. She talks about meeting the other passengers and going to the Saloon and on deck. Finally feeling better goes down to dinner on Friday, July 14th. She continues to talk about her time on board and goes into detail about a Sailors drill she watched.On July 19th she writes that she got up very early and saw land for the first time. A lighthouse on Bishops Rock off the Scilly Islands earl in the morning. Signals them to send word to America Signal 3 Whistles. She writes about seeing no land in the English Channel but saw a great many boats.Thursday July 20th she got up very early and saw land near all morning. After lunch she sat on deck with Momma and saw land all day. After dinner on deck they saw a great many boats and ships. In the afternoon she packed her clothes and spent time on deck with Mrs. Seymour. She talks about going down to supper and the director "sat champagne up for all hands several times". "Played several pieces and went up to see the Lights of Rotterdam.Friday July 21st landed in Rotterdam and goes to hotel. Went to the Hague and in a car visited where they make the Delftware in "Delft".They left Rotterdam on July 22nd and traveled to Cologne. Crossed the Rhine to see the new part of Cologne. The 23rd they went to the Cathedral and went to Flora and Zoological garden and listened to music. They left Cologne to take a boat trip to the Rhine. They saw beautiful scenery and soldiers drilling and building bridges.Tuesday July 25th they took the boat to Weidesheim. Talks about a passing a tree carved like a snake. She talks about getting her baggage and taking a boat to Biebrich. At Bierich they took a carriage to Wiesbaden. They went to a Hotel Hahn? in Wiesbaden.She stayed in Wiesbaden until at least August 10th when the diary ends. She talks about all the sights she sees including going to the Springs daily, Kurhaus Park, tomb of Nassaus daughter. She talks about taking a bath I would assume at the spring. She talks about a bicycle race, an opera and her daily travels.This came from an estate with a large collection of ephemera. This will be packaged very carefully protected in a plastic sleeve and shipped in a box not a mailer.Please e-mail me prior to bidding if you are unsure of something or need additional information or pictures and I will answer you promptly.We are happy to combine purchases to reduce shipping costs, so be sure to request an invoice if you win multiple items. For International Buyers I participate in eBay's Global Shipping Program which determines the shipping costs and does not allow for combined purchases. I do not ship internationally outside of Ebay's Global shipping program.I appreciate payment within 3 days of auction end.Please click on view sellers other items. Thank you for looking.NJ BUYERS ARE REQUIRED TO PAY 6.625% SALES TAX. THANK YOU.
