TAYLOR, Thomas.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Gentlemans Pocket Companion for Travelling into Foreign parts. First edition of this pocket guide for English tourists in Britain and on the European continent, the first part illustrated with charming maps and entirely engraved, the second with a useful phrasebook in English, Italian, German, Spanish, French, and Dutch.The textual sections provide information on the distance between London and major cities, with intermediate stops, in England and Scotland, as well as continental Europe. The maps identify important places such as universities and bishoprics, and highlight the main roads, down to Constantinople.The phrasebook offers short dialogues on a variety of useful subjects for the Grand Tour, such as directions, small talk at the inn, and even "double entendres" and "useful expressions for courting", which were "a competitive feature in guidebooks for travellers who were not pilgrims, bankers, merchants or even soldiers" (Tosi, p.149-50).Provenance: William A. McCarty-Cooper, sale, Christie's New York, 25 January, 1992, part lot 100 – Stephen C. Massey, purchased from Bart Auerbach.

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