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Naples. Ship sailing this evening for Malta. Repeats (in case previous letters have not Arrived) that he has not heard from sister-in-law since November - and to pay the

Florence. Short opening times of the Laurentian library - about 14 hours a week - but able to work in his own room, so does not have to kill time. Italians a race of professed loungers. Loves Florence, but despises the Florentine gentry for their meanness. Depends on expatriate Englishmen for society - many half-pay officers (who would be dandies if they had the means of being so). The Hon. Brownlow-Charles Colyear a good example of the travelling youth of England (died in Rome because of wounds received from bandits whilst en route from Naples - but according to PE from a typhus fever). Dreadful weather over the winter - rain and fog - so cold that the cellars of confectioners contain blocks of ice thick even by English standards. Now lovely, though odd to see the surrounding hills white with snow. The weather changed with the arrival of the Emperor of Austria on 7th March, a person of mean presence. His fourth wife young enough to be PE's daughter - daughter married to Napoleon, and allowed to speak to no one. Florence very cheap - has only spent

Glasgow. Comfortable night at Dalnacardoch. Grounds of Taymouth Castle (but not inside, due to the imminent arrival of Lord Bradalbane and his bride). Killin and the burial ground of the Lairds of MacNab (the current Laird, while wooing a lady, promised her the grandest burial place in Scotland - she refused him). Night at Tyndrum - inns in Scotland inferior to the English, but far superior in terms of wine, rum and brandy (inns in Yorkshire an exception to this). Loveliness of the Vale of Glenorchy and of Loch Awe. Splendours of Inverary Castle...but the town a paltry deception. Description of journey from Inverary to Arrochar. Visited Inchtavannach. Night at Dumbarton (a dirty town, with one dirty inn), and castle before church the next day. Finally to a splendid inn in Glasgow (whose coffee room alone is larger than the assembly room in Ramsgate).

Hague. Visit (by canal) on July 7th to last day of Haarlem fair. Failure to hear Haarlem organ because of a lengthy sermon. Wonderful flowers and gardens. 7 hour voyage to Leyden on 9th July. University on vacation, so town is peaceful and pleasant. Thomas Gaisford (regius professor of Greek) in Leiden for a few months collating mss. - they visit Daniel Wyttenbach, who expresses surprise that such a learned scholar as PE could be so merry (quite the opposite to Valckenaer and Ruhnken) - when Gaisford reports the story to his wife, she says that the household consider PE a vast deal more 'vrolijk' than Gaisford. 3 nights in Leyden (because of presence of Gaisfords), staying on Golden Lion, then on to The Hague. House names displayed prominently (usually compounds of pleasure, rest or prospect). Failure to find intended hotel because of language difficulties - ends up at Marechal de Turenne, which he suspects will be expensive. (Sunday, 14th July). Does not think The Hague as pretty as the Dutch do. Walked yesterday and saw many groups of ragged boys playing cards on the pavement - perhaps Jews keeping the sabbath holy. The common people (who cannot all be Jews) are as ragged and filthy as the Jews themselves. Vieille Cour only building to arrest attention. 2 mile walk to Scheveningen (past an odorous cemetery).

Rome. Letters not getting to England, because a dishonest clerk has been pocketing the postage. Arrived in Rome 14/11 - account of letters which might have gone astray (inc. one concerning a guitar being ordered from Naples for Miss Bigge [qv]). Now pretty much done with sightseeing in Rome. Spends some hours (9.00 till 1.00ish) in Vatican Library (mss of Eur.) - exactly 30 mins walk from lodgings in Via de Due Macelli (four doors from Piazza di Spagna); then a stroll in St Peter's to warm up, and home to write up his notes. A stroll at about 4.00, usually on the Pincian hill. until dinner. Then tea- or ice- or scandal-parties. Attended a poetry meeting of the Accademia Tiberina - the Italians adopt literature as a substitute for politics; the meeting was preceded by a prose essay on the historical, moral and logical aspects of Carnival. Carnival nominally lasts from Boxing Day until Shrove Tuesday, but is concentrated on the last 10 or so days; on Saturday 10 days before there is a public guillotining, as a reminder of what may happen if the bounds of licentiousness are transgressed. Comments on the mild weather - fine weather is a large part of happiness. Dislikes his lodgings. Roman water is excellent, as are the vegetables - half the ground within the city walls is occupied by kitchen gardens. Looks forward to Naples, which at first he had not intended to visit - but a shame not to, especially since he knows so many people there (inc. the Duchess of Devonshire and her son and daughter, who has left her husband, an act more conducive to peace and tranquillity than to reputation). Asks his sister-in-law to look out for a place for his envisaged return in September, about the same distance from London as is her place in Ealing.

Naples. Please pay

Naples. Boarded the Ranger brig bound for Malta and Egypt (but didn't get to latter). Palermo - Trapani (3 nights at sea from Palermo!) - Malta - Messina. Voyage partly undertaken for the health of Lady Harriet Drummond, but her sea-sickness caused the abandonment of the original plan of going to Athens. PE not as sea-sick as he thought he might be - only sick so as to make a discharge on one day. Will ignore Malta and Sicily till they meet, because he needs to address a letter from his sister-in-law - but Valetta very pretty - after 20 odd years of rule the English have introduced cleanliness, but have yet to set up a church. Sister-in-law's poor health caused by the weather - but the spring in Naples was just as raw as in England. Thanks for offer to look after PE's exports from Italy. Miss B. (Bigge?) has married. Various business matters. Mrs Bedford has died - PE has not heard from Bedford the son, but he himself could not write to anyone after his own mother's death. Some gossip from Grote concerning the love affairs of one Diana. Comments on the will of Mr Carew. Plans to return to England via Rome, Florence and Venice.

Munich. Only 4 nights in Venice - hurried away because of the heat, and also to catch up with the Sothebys. Venice comparatively empty of visitors and natives - grass growing in St Mark's Square. Met Matthew Lewis (OW) at a comedy, who expects Byron to arrive the following day and promises to introduce PE at the Teatro San Benedetto - not keen, but doesn't want to offend an old school-fellow. They fail to show up, and PE leaves the next day, travelling via Treviso and Bassano (having come down via Padua - he is now satiated with churches and pictures). Description of journey to Trent(o). The Sothebys are 2 days ahead, but it would be a foolish to hurry through the Tyrol (like the Englishman who did not see Rome on his way to Naples because it happened to be midnight when he passed through it). Departure delayed by rain - musical mass in honour of St Aloysius Gonzago. On to Neumarkt - language changes from Italian to German - and Bolzano, where he stumbles and hurts his knee (this part of the letter written on 18th July in Innsbruck). The Verona diligence to Brixen (a private carriage exorbitantly expensive), but arrives at 3a.m., so decides to continue to Innsbruck. Steeper ascent, so the diligence needs 6 or 8 horse rather than the normal 4. At Brenner one brook leads to the Black Sea and another to the Adriatic. Description of route from Bassano to Innsbruck - Sothebys now 1 day ahead. On to Munich - at Fussen PE checked to ensure he was not bringing plague into Bavaria. Finds Sothebys - they proceed to Lake Constance, but PE remains to examine Augsburg mss (now in Munich) - will meet again in Baden. No wine, but very cheap beer. Praise for reforms of Joseph II. Amusing translation of an innkeeper's advertisement into English.

Florence. A short letter, but being sent free of charge - thinks it rude to send a short letter since the recipient has to pay the costs. Is well, and has not used his travelling medicine chest. Travelled with Hallam to Bologna via Geneva, Milan and Venice, and came on to Florence on 5th October. Treasures in library of San Lorenzo, but, like those of the Vatican, not very accessible - only open 3 hours a day, and often shut altogether. Does not expect to finish his task until Easter, but happy to have a pretext to stay in Florence. More English and Irish in Florence than in Brussels in 1816. Has met an old acquaintance - trained as an attorney, got no business, married advantageously, acquired a situation in the West Indies, and now living very smartly in Florence, at the top of society; but planning to move to Bath in the spring, where they be able to afford very little, and will be cut by the people who now court them. 'Almost anyone can be great somewhere or other.' Has south facing lodgings, and can sit in late November with the window open - wishes Michelangelo had orientated San Lorenzo the same way. Intends to go to Milan when he has finished in Florence - will probably be out of England for a year, but will certainly return after a year in Oxford publishing his findings. Asks her to sell some stocks in mid-January.

Glasgow. Inn at Dunkeld the best in the town, but filthy. However, they met with moorfowl for the first time (= red grouse). Better to stay in Inver. Veysie more pleased with the Duke of Atholl's grounds than PE. View of the cascade of the Braan (Black Linn Falls?) spoiled by the Hermitage. From Dunkeld to Blair Atholl via pass of Killicrankie. Blair Castle without regularity or beauty, but with some fine rooms and wonderful grounds. Tomb of Dundee and Claverhouse's Stone. On to Dalnacardoch.