Beschreibung:

Title: Manuscript record of a trip by five English persons through Europe in 1935, in a Ford pulling a camper Author: Place: Europe Publisher: Date: 1935 Description: Approx. 114 pp. of handwritten text, plus about 90 original black and white photographs (in corner mounts on the blank versos of the text leaves), all of which are identified, several large real photo postcards, a hand drawn map of their journey, a map showing the Western Front before the first battle of Somme, newspaper clippings to include Mussolini's ambition, etc. 22x17 cm (8¾x6¾"), cloth-backed boards. Entertaining record of a summer tour through a Europe on her way to war, and still recovering from the previous one. Three women and two men headed out from Washington, England, in a 4-door Ford automobile pulling a camper big enough to sleep five. They traveled across Europe, debarking on an auto-carrier ship at Dover, and upon arriving in Calais, France, their journey began. They drove the Ford, pulling the camper, through France to Germany, Austria, Italy, and their final vacation destination of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia. If they could not get through the Brenner Pass, they were going to spend their vacation in Innsbruck and not Dubrovnik. The trip lasted from August 2 to September 9, 1935, and they logged their miles for each day, typically with 2-3 pictures of that day's travel. The handwritten descriptions of their European journey are exquisite, and in great detail. Handwritten entries include that there were signs of war everywhere on the road to St. Quentin; cement shelters, shell craters, line of trenches; along the way while camping in un-familiar territory and fields they were eaten alive by mosquitoes, frightened by snakes coming out of the walls where they camped..blazing heat during the day...torrential down pours..thick, deep mud,... stopping to camp in the dark only to find that early in the am they hear the loud sound of a train whistle as it flies by not far from their camper,... breaking down...getting stuck on rocks...tackling the alps with this Ford pulling the camper... one of their party gets badly hurt... flat tire puncture... camping in Freidnichshafen the original home of the Graf Zeppelin... breaking down at the Italian /Yugoslavia border and the disgusted customs crossing guards and soldiers literally pushing them over the border into Yugoslavia... taking a ship to Dubrovnick and vacationing there... up into the mountains..drinking tea by the ocean side...the kindness of strangers...the beauty of the land, or the barren land where the peasants hand gathered up soil wherever they can, to grow something...camping at.the seaside and bathing in the ocean every morning...traveling the roads that were almost non-existent...mud and endless rain...the steep mountains and the huge go-downs... farmers giving them milk, eggs, butter... being allowed to stay overnight under an archway in a torrential down pour... people peeking through the windows...waking up to curious bystanders...shopping expeditions in different towns...Admiral Salces their Austrian interpreter....mentions Mussolini a couple times in conjunction with his ambitions in Europe.....taking the ship and being in steerage ..leaving the camper in town and both vehicles to be worked on and ready for the trip home after their cruise and vacation" ...They name every town, junction, village, city, they visit with great detail of the buildings, the people, the vistas, the beaches. The customs and soldiers in different countries at the frontier and how they treated these travelers are addressed in great narration. Lot Amendments Condition: Spine splitting a bit, overall very good. Item number: 273144