The Fatal Gift of Beauty: The Italies of British Travellers : an Annotated AnthologyManfred Pfister Rodopi, 1996 - 554 pages This is the first anthology of British travel writing on Italy which traces the development of the genre and the history of the British perception of Italy from the Renaissance to the present. As an anthologie raissonnéeit presents the texts in thematic clusters and chronological order, providing commentary and annotations for each of them and their nearly hundred authors (some of them, like Smollett, Byron, Dickens or Huxley, well-known, others virtually unknown, amongst them many unduly neglected women writers). Further features are a substantial introduction to the travelogue and the writing of Italy, more than thirty illustrations visualizing the British experience of Italy, and an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources. |
Contents
| 3 | |
| 15 | |
Descriptive List of Illustrations | 58 |
The Hazards of Travelling | 118 |
The Perception of Otherness | 142 |
Womens Studies | 194 |
and the Genius of the Roman Catholic Religion | 205 |
Modena and Parma | 228 |
as Cavaliere Servente | 269 |
Domestic Economy | 291 |
Momentary Passions | 293 |
Good Manners | 299 |
Italian Cities | 337 |
Lady Hamiltons Attitudes | 383 |
Off the Beaten Tracks and the Mezzogiorno | 395 |
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Common terms and phrases
appear beauty British called carried century church classical early England English entered experience eyes face feel Florence four France French George give Grand half hand head hills imagination interest Italian Italy John journey kind Lady land least leave less Letters light live London look manner means miles mind mountains Naples nature never night observed once painted palace particular passed perhaps person picture poet political present REFERENCES remains Richard road Roman Rome round seemed seen side sometimes standing stone streets tell TEXT things thought told took Tour tourists town travellers turn Venetian Venice walls whole women writing young
Popular passages
Page 14 - A man who has not been in Italy is always conscious of an inferiority, from his not having seen what it is expected a man should see. The grand object of travelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean.