American Traveler on the Continent: EUROPEAN ACQUAINTANCE by De Forest, 1858

Description: Author: De Forest, J[ohn] W[illiam]. Title: EUROPEAN ACQUAINTANCE; Being Sketches of People in Europe. Publication: New York: Harper & Brothers, 1858. Description: 12mo. 276 pages, plus [4] pages publisher's ads at rear. Original brown cloth, stamped in gilt on spine, and with gilt and blind rules on covers; yellow-coated endpapers. [19.4 cm.] Good only. Head of spine chipped to headband; shallow chip to cloth at base of spine and exposed paper colored to match cloth; wear to hinges and corners; tiny hole to rear hinge; some faint spotting to boards. Early owner's lightly penciled inscription on front endpapers: "Annie H. Stephens, Baltimore, Sept. 27, 1863." Corner chip to front free endpaper. Moderate foxing to title. Perhaps two dozen other pages similarly affected; the rest with only light scattered foxing. Slight wrinkle to some leaves along gutters. Mesh starting to show between two leaves, but signatures holding well and binding otherwise sound. FIRST EDITION. The author's third book, a diverting account of his travels in Italy, Austria, and France. Much of the work is devoted to De Forest's effort to find relief from his health problems by seeking the water cure in the spas of Graefenberg (in present day Czechoslovakia) and Divonne (in eastern France). There he "found eccentric characters. The water sanitariums of Europe were apparently among the habitats of quaint humanity and ... De Forest wittily captured some of these human oddities." --Light, "John William De Forest," p. 45. One chapter describes other unusual treatments he encountered in Graefenberg, including the "curd cure," the "straw cure," and the "wine cure," and another chapter discusses an experience with Mesmerism in Divonne. There is also a narrative of life in Florence, where De Forest spent a long, pleasurable sojourn, and descriptions of his visits to Venice, Rome, and Paris. In Florence, "he frequented the best restaurants, listened to Verdi's music, attempted to translate `The House of the Seven Gables' into Italian, and collected tales of Italian religious superstitions. A stay in Paris excited no rhapsodies, but provoked some Yankee satire from this early innocent abroad." --Gargano, "Critical Essays on John William De Forest," p. 7. Smith, "American Travelers Abroad," D35. BAL 4602. Eilenberger Rare Books, LLCDurham, North Carolina About us:Eilenberger Rare Books is an online shop specializing in Americana, particularly books about the Southeastern U.S., and we offer rare, scholarly, and antiquarian books on a variety of other subjects. David J. Eilenberger established the firm in 2010. Before that, he worked for over ten years at respected firms in the A.B.A.A., including Chapel Hill Rare Books. A native of Pennsylvania and a graduate of Colgate University, he has called North Carolina home for over twenty-five years. He attended the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS) in 2019. Member I.O.B.A. (Independent Online Booksellers Association) since 2017.Terms:PayPal is preferred. Orders shipped within two business days. Standard shipping is USPS Media Mail, which includes tracking. Expedited and international shipping are available on request; please inquire for a price quote.All items are guaranteed as described. Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery provided all items are returned in the condition in which they were received. Please notify us before shipping. Return postage is the buyer's responsibility. Your satisfaction is our prime concern. If you are unhappy with any part of your experience with Eilenberger Rare Books, please let us know immediately and we will do everything we can to make it right.

Price: 75 USD

Location: Durham, North Carolina

End Time: 2025-02-10T18:54:44.000Z

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