Diary with account of travels in Southern Italy

RAM/01

Diary with account of travels in Southern Italy

13 July 1826 - 18 April 1827

item

1 volume

MS diary containing accounts of CT Ramage's travels in Southern Italy from 13 July to 22 October 1826, taking in the natural environment, ancient Roman architecture and ruins, and observations on the people with reference to many classical texts.  Circa 70 pages of text. Includes accounts of Naples and the surrounding areas: religious services and processions, the brutality of the Neapolitan army and overbearing bureaucracy, the Neapolitan temperament, system of titles and class, how the affairs of each commune or parish are managed, public schools, farming and manufacturing (silk, stockings), smuggling and countermeasures against this along the coast.  Also described are visits to a Capuchin Monastery, Cumae (the cave of the Sibyl), Sorrento (ruins of a Roman villa belonging to Pollio -friend of Horace and favourite of Augustus), the isles of the Sirens (the Galli), Capri (Tiberius' palace and a recently discovered marble sarcophagus there) Paestum (Temples), Herculaneum (ancient amphitheatre) and Pompeii (examining the late excavations in which several paintings and bones were found), Salerno (Theatre, Cathedral), Nola (ongoing tomb excavations), and Lake Mefite.  References encounters with Mr Mathias, author of Pursuits of Literature.  One entry from 18 April 1827, with an account of a Catholic Church festival and procession.

Includes loose insert of 10 page typescript of extracts from the diary.

Ramage, Craufurd Tait (1803-1878), clergyman, private tutor and author

MS 1017/1