Journals of trips in Switzerland, and letters from John Ruskin, 1853-1857.

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Forman, Emma Catherine. Journals of trips in Switzerland, and letters from John Ruskin, 1853-1857.

Journals of trips in Switzerland, and letters from John Ruskin, 1853-1857.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/32075449

Emma Catherine Forman and her father Richard Forman traveled to Switzerland from England in 1853, 1854, 1856, and 1857 to climb the Alps. On the first trip, 1 August-10 September 1853, Richard Forman begins the journal recounting their travels from Chamonix to the surrounding mountains. Forman describes the scenery, Mount Cervin (Matterhorn), and climbing conditions. Emma Forman takes over writing the journal on 21 August. On the second trip, 7 July-11 September 1854, they go to Chamonix to view Mont Blanc again. Emma records their climbs, the difficulties of ascent, her belief she was the first woman to climb the Mettelhorn; they climbed mountains in a radius from the town of Zermatt. On the third trip, 17 July-25 August 1856, they spend some time touring Paris and Geneva. They used Chamonix as a base to successfully climb Mont Blanc on 1 August. The following day they meet John Ruskin. "Mr. Ruskin called and we found him most gentlemanly and agreeable. He is quite a savant and extremely well informed. He is quite an enthusiast about mountains and geology." On their fourth trip, 22 July-31 August 1857, Emma describes the countryside on the way to Strasbourg and the costumes of the women in France and Switzerland. This time they travel through the alps and the Rhone River Valley to Zermatt to see Monte Rosa and then go back to Chamonix near Mont Blanc. They climbed the Mettelhorn in 1854, Mont Blanc in 1856, and Monte Rosa in 1857. Also, includes the certificate of ascension of Mont Blanc for the Formans. Emma Forman and John Ruskin began an enthusiastic correspondence, seven letters of which are part of this collection plus one from his father, John James Ruskin. Ruskin writes to Forman about her visiting him in London, his sadness at leaving the Alps, recommends six mountains to climb, ruminates on what a woman with "energy and love of adventure" could do for serious work, and her school teaching. His father writes to her about her forthcoming climb of Monte Rosa and gives his son's itinerary.

Diaries: 5 v. : paper ; 18 cm.Letters: 8 items (22 p.)

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