Consists of two volumes that record 31 journeys through text and 81 watercolors and pencil sketches created by the artist between 1851 and 1854 and from 1857 to 1864. The first volume opens with a trip from New York to Key West, Fl. and Cuba from Feb. 10 to May 31, 1851. The artist's first long stop-over was in Charleston, S.C., where he had friends and relatives. He commented on the city and heard a sermon delivered by Dr. John Bachman. On March 1, the traveler embarked on the steamer, Isabel, for Key West, Fl, and continuing further south, he landed in Havana on March 18. Only two days later he began to think that Havana was a stupid place that he "shall be glad to get out of it." Although he attended a masquerade ball and other social events, he did not seem to enjoy his stay. On May 9, he left for home. During the return trip, the artist again stopped in Charleston, went through Annapolis, Md. and Philadelphia, and wound up in New York. While there, he attended an exhibition of the American Art Union, a second at what he called the National Gallery, and a third at the Dusseldorf Gallery. The remainder of the volume describes short trips about Massachusetts in 1852 and 1853. The second volume opens with another trip to Charleston and a side journey to the nearby estate of Robert F. W. Allston. Allston's large rice plantation, known for its use of advanced techniques of scientific agricultural management, received comment from the writer. The diarist then headed south to Jacksonville and Saint Augustine, Fl. During the later half of the 1850s, the artist traveled through New England and Canada and seemed to be taking part in incipient artists colonies in Vermont and Maine. He records his activities as a member of these casual groups. Accompanying illustrations play an important role in recording the artist's of impressions of what he saw. Depictions include seascapes done in Key West, a cathedral in Havana, the old Spanish gate and fort in Saint Augustine, the Naval Academy and State House in Annapolis, a depiction of the Brewster House in Charleston, the rice fields of the Allston planatation, slave quarters, city views in Montreal, local landmarks such as the mills and railroad bridge in Brattleboro, Vt., and the rock at the ocean's edge off Barnstable, Ma.
