Abstract
(1) THE type of travel-narrative to which Sir Edward Thorpe's volume belongs is one of the commonest among books, but his manner of treating his subject is by no means common. The book bears upon it the stamp of a labour of love; to any reader who is attached to France, attracted by river navigation, or even generally interested in the picturesque in scenery or architecture, it will make exquisitely pleasant reading; the personal element in the narrative, which introduces the companions who made the voyage, is never (as it often is in such books) given an exaggerated prominence, and withal there appears here and there indications of the scientific authority of the writer which suffice to give the book a further peculiar value. The journey with which the book deals was made in a steam yacht across the Channel, up the Seine to Paris, and back. It was made, it would appear, leisurely, and gave ample opportunity for the travellers to become well acquainted with the many beautiful places on the river, and for one of them, Miss Olive Branson, to prepare the admirable series of sketches with which the book is mainly illustrated, though some of the pictures are drawn from another source, and there is also a series of large-scale maps (1: 125,000) of the rivers; these last will be found of real service to those who follow Sir Edward Thorpe on this fine river, as will the directions he gives in regard to its navigation and the official arrangements connected therewith.
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Three Books of Travel 1 . Nature 92, 234–235 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1038/092234a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/092234a0