Letter from CT Ramage to his mother from Florence
Reference code
RAM/02/16
Title
Letter from CT Ramage to his mother from Florence
Date
24 August 1828
Level of description
item
Scope and content
Letter from CT Ramage to his mother from Florence on 24 August 1828, advising that he is detained in Florence until the arrival of Dr Nott to whom he entrusted manuscript notes of considerable value. Immediately upon Dr Nott's arrival he plans to set off for Bologna to Venice. Tells of his travels from Rome through Maremma (said to be one of the most dangerous parts of Italy for malaria) to Florence. He travelled part way with two others, in a Diligence with the windows closed "as all agreed that it would be better to run the risk of suffocation rather than of fever" and trying to stay awake "as to sleep in those regions is to wake in the fangs of death". Speaks of the magnificent harbour constructed by Trajan at Civitavecchia, the Etruscan tombs at Corneto (Tarquinia), visiting various ruins (some 'unknown to modern geographers') en route to Viterbo, drinking Est at Montefiascone, and crossing the Appenines with a guide on horseback in stormy weather.
Creator
Ramage, Craufurd Tait (1803-1878), clergyman, private tutor and author