Travels Through France and Italy

Resumen del libro

In 1763, Tobias Smollett set sail from Folkestone to Boulogne. He would not return to England for two years, during which time he travelled extensively - and in a notoriously ill-tempered fashion - through much of France and Italy. Smollett, seemed 'determined to be pleased with nothing' and was 'sardonic, satirical and decidedly gloomy'. In Paris, everything had 'shrunk' and was twice as expensive as his last visit. Versailles was a 'dismal habitation'. In Rome, he felt that Michelangelo's "Last Judgement" resembled a mob; his inn in San Remo was more miserable than the worst alehouse in England and in Lerici he was sure he would be poisoned. And yet, there were places where even Smollett could not fail to be captivated. The Maison Carree in Nimes was 'ravishingly beautiful', Nice was enchanting and the port of Genoa 'dazzling'. His obvious pleasure in the landscapes through which he passed, his keen eye for colourful, telling details and the fact that his letters appear virtually as they were written beautifully illuminate both Smollett's character and the places he visited.

Funny, honest and full of subtle magic, "Travels through France and Italy" is a rare and revealing portrait of 18th century Europe at a time when Marie Antoinette had just become queen of all France, the Grand Tour was in its infancy and Cannes was a quiet fishing village.

Biografía del autor

(Escocia, 1721- Italia, 1771) fue médico, escritor, traductor, historiador, periodista y cervantista escocés, además de uno de los personajes más absolutos y excesivos de la Ilustración británica. Su obra incluye poesía, teatro, libros de historia, traducciones y ensayo político, pero todo ha quedado relegado por la brillantez y el atrevimiento de sus novelas y narraciones. Desde la picaresca Las aventuras de Roderick Random (1748), que fue la primera y la más popular, hasta la epistolar La expedición de Humphrey Clinker (1770), a la postre su gran clásico, estas le dieron su gran fama y pingües beneficios. La obra histórica sobre Inglaterra y sus traducciones (Cervantes, Voltaire) se siguen imprimiendo hoy en día. Su versión del Quijote ha sido siempre alabada por saber mantener gran parte del humor del original, gracias al conocimiento y el gusto por lo español, adquiridos en sus largas estancias en el Caribe.