South by East: Notes of Travel in Southern Europe (page 2/3)

Front Cover

Red buckram (I think) with gold leaf.

Frontispiece: Cathedral o Messina

This engraving was published in 1877; since then, the cathedral was damaged in an earthquake in 1919 and mostly rebuilt, only to be bombed in the Second World War and again partly rebuilt. [more...]

Decorative chapter head with winged creatures

A decorative woodcut used at the start of the chapter on Milan; there are dragons, or possibly gryphons but with tails like serpents, and in the centre a face with hair done in pigtails; the whole is [...]sarcophagus. [more...]

Decorative initial letter “M” – Roman military standard

This decorative initial letter “M” was used sa a drop cap at the start of the chapter; it is in the shape of a Roman standard that might have been carried by a legion of soldiers, and contains [...] [more...]

Milan Cathedral

A very fine engraving of the exceptionally beautiful Milan Cathedral; the scaled-down versions don’t do it justice.

Decorative Initial letter F

A decorative initial capial letter “F” used as a drop cap atthe start of a chapter. It features a Greek urn, a Minotoar or Bull mask, vine leaves, and, at the top, a naked woman riding a creature that has the front of a [...] [more...]

Cathedral of S. Mark, Venice

“The centre of life in Venice is the Piazza of S. Mark, which is not altogether unlike the Palais Royal in Paris. It is surrounded on three sides by lofty houses, the lowest parts of which are shops or cafés, while on its east side stands the Cathedral of S. Mark, in front of which the three lofty masts which once bore the [...] [more...]

Portrait of Michael Angelo

“Memorials of Michael Angelo meet one at every turn in Florence. His city is justly proud of him. Mrs. Oliphant speaks of him as “the greatest Florentine master, he who stands alone among the crowd, exceeding all as his gigantic statues tower over all other works, alone at once in greatness and in [...] [more...]

The Columbarium.

It is a funeral procession: the mourners walk in line down the steps and into the columbarium where the ashes of the dead will be placed. The chamber is lit by torches carried by mourners and also by narrow shafts of sunlight from above. In the walls are niches for the ashes. The bereaved kneels ready to receive the ashes; on the righ, two musicians [...] [more...]

Decorative Chapter Head

A decorative panel above the opening of Chapter VI. A man and a woman—more properly a merman and mermaid—meet in the centre. And don’t tell me the man isn’t gay with that wrist, darlings! [more...]

Initial Letter S

A decorative capital “S” used as a drop cap, or initial letter S, from the start of Chapter VI, showing a monk kneeling at prayer, with tonsure, robe and sandals. The desk at which [...] [more...]