Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Journal of Our Trip Through Europe chronicles the European travels of Americans "Billie" and "Blanche" in the summer and fall of 1891.

The "Journal of our trip through Europe" (147 pages) chronicles the European travels of Americans "Billie" and "Blanche" from July 22, 1891-October 7, 1891.

The diary concerns the travelers' transatlantic voyages on the City of Paris (July 1891) and Friesland (October 1891) and their experiences in London, Paris, Rome, other Italian cities, several German cities, and Brussels. They spent most of their time enthusiastically sightseeing, but were frustrated in Italy when attacked by pickpockets (September 6, 1891). In Paris, they visited the catacombs and witnessed a suicide at the Eiffel Tower (August 24, 1891). The diary records visits to art museums throughout Europe, such as the Louvre and the Vatican Museums, and notes the travelers' impressions of architecture and public sculptures.

The Louis G. Monté collection is made up of 2 diaries about Americans traveling in Europe in the summer of 1899. Monté and another traveler wrote entries about sightseeing in England, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Both journals have pencil drawings of people encountered and each doubles as a scrapbook with photographs, tickets, programs, and other ephemera.

The Louis G. Monté collection is made up of 2 diaries about Americans traveling in Europe in the summer of 1899. Monté and another traveler wrote entries about sightseeing in several European countries, and both used their journals as scrapbooks.

Louis G. Monté wrote daily diary entries between July 5, 1899, and August 26, 1899 (Volume 1, pages 5-73). He described his journey from Charlestown, Massachusetts, to England on the steamer New England and arrived on July 14. He saw the sights in London, England; Paris, France; Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), Cologne (Köln) and Düsseldorf, Germany; and Amsterdam and Haarlem, Netherlands. He often visited museums and commented on local architecture and customs. Monté's brief final entries pertain to his return journey from Antwerp, Belgium, to New York on the steamer Southwark. Monté also used his book as a scrapbook for photographs and ephemera (pages 1-4 and 1a-36a; not all pages are used), and he wrote notes about French, English, and German currency on pages 2-4. The book's endpapers and cover also have items pasted in, such as tickets, programs, advertisements, and other ephemera. Photographs primarily depict scenes and people in the Netherlands, and numerous drawings illustrate people he encountered during his European travels. Pages 21a-22a (Volume 1) contain an essay on English architecture.

The second diary (unattributed) covers the author's travels from August 3, 1899-August 16, 1899 (pages 1-33), with photographs, stamps, tickets, train schedules, and other ephemera interleaved with the journal entries (pages 34-55 and 1a-55a; not all pages are used). The author drew pictures of people and wrote notes. He visited the same locations as Monté and sketched a nearly identical image of a woman in Aix-La-Chappelle, Germany (Vol. 1, p. 19a; Vol. 2, p. 2). Most of the pasted-in ephemera items pertain to travels in the Netherlands.

The William A. Bates journal chronicles Bates' travels through Scotland and England in July 1912.

The William A. Bates journal chronicles Bates' travels through Scotland and England in July 1912. In a series of daily diary entries, Bates covered the entire trip, including his transatlantic passages on the Baltic and Oceanic. Bates and two companions, John S. Bates and Dudley Bates Lawrence, set off on the Baltic on July 3, 1912, and spent 8 leisurely days onboard making acquaintances and playing shuffleboard. The author pleasantly noted a large number of Yale graduates also making the trip, and discussed the trio's indecision regarding their upcoming plans. On July 11, the passengers arrived in Liverpool, and the three companions made their way to Glasgow by train, where they began a month of sightseeing around Scotland and England. As the group journeyed across the country to Edinburgh, Bates paid particular attention to the landscape, and often noted golf courses and cricket pitches. After spending a few days in Edinburgh, the travelers went to St. Andrews, where they spent two days on its legendary golf links (July 16-17), and then on to North Berwick, where they again played golf. On July 21, they left Scotland for York, where they viewed the city's cathedral, and moved onward to Cambridge, where Bates recorded his impressions of university students and of the pleasant town. After arriving in London on July 25, they spent several days touring local landmarks, including the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, where they attended a church service. Following a week filled with theatrical outings and museums, the three companions boarded the Oceanic in Southampton on July 31. During the return journey, Bates noted several aspects of life on the ship, including his first-class view over the steerage deck and the presence of several Olympians onboard.