Canadian Travellers in Europe, 1851-1900

This book provides both a detailed survey of Canadian travel writingin the nineteenth century and an unusual perspective on Canadiancultural history. The Canadians who wrote about their experiencesabroad during the era of mass travel which followed the advent of thesteamship reveal much about themselves and their own country aswell.

Who were these travellers, why did they travel, and what did theyexpect to see? In answering these questions, Eva-Marie Kroller drawsupon a wide variety of materials: novels, guide books, magazines,newspapers, photographs, paintings, and previously unpublished lettersand diaries. The self-assured progress of the privileged Canadiantravellers often turned into introspective voyages of self-discovery.For one thing, Europeans often mistook them for Americans, and many hadto ask themselves what it really meant to be Canadian. In addition, thetone of moral earnestness which pervades the early travellers'tales begins to give way to a certain world-weariness by the end. InCanada and elsewhere, the 'tourist' was a new phenomenon at thebeginning of the period, but an accepted part of the modern world bythe end of it. Canadian Travellers in Europe will be required readingfor devotees of travel writing, but it is also a significantcontribution to nineteenth-century Canadian history.