European travel scrapbook of Francis Jewett Parker

April 27 - June 16, 1861. Softcover. Good. 82 leaf scrapbook with leather spine, covers missing. 28 cm. Contains 12 letters written home to family during a tour of Europe. Also includes photos and drawings (some identified), over 20 hotel bills, 1 menu from on board ship, 4 other menus, calling cards (including one for Jerome Napoleon Bonaparte), laundry bills, etc. A few stains and tears.

An American named Frank J. Parker tours Europe in spring 1861, along with a friend, Mr. Knight. Their itinerary includes Ireland, England, France, Italy, Austria and Germany. Parker writes home to his wife four times, his brother Henry once, "Miss Editor" once, his son Frank once, his daughter Clara twice, his cousin Henrietta once, his brother Ned once, and the "News" (again Miss Editor). At rear he keeps a diary of his last adventures before sailing home and includes the "Illustrated News", a mock newspaper sent to him by "Miss Editor." Parker's letters often include amusing doodles, including the twisted spire on the church at Chesterfield, a front and side view of French mustaches, a gondola in Venice, a hotel bed, and pairs of pantaloons.

Parker (1825-1909) was a cotton manufacturer from Boston. This is supported by his visit to a cotton mill in Litchfield, England, as recorded in a letter to his wife on May 2. The letter writer states he has been married 15 years on April 28, 1861 and Parker did indeed marry Anna Lyman April 28, 1846. Add to this that Francis Jewett Parker had a brother named Henry, a daughter named Clara, and a son named Frank, and the identification is complete.

Parker's description of life aboard the Steamship America includes seasickness (Mr. Knight relieves himself over the side), how dishes are prevented from sliding off the table while dining in a rough sea, the ship's cook (who reads, makes pies, and smokes all at the same time), his disappointment in his first sight of whales, the death and burial at sea of the chief steward, and the pancakes on board not being like "Yankee pancakes." Upon arrival in England, Parker can report on English breakfasts served in front of coal fires, May Day celebrations in Bradford, how Derby is pronounced "Darby", how he can't understand why Hansom cabs don't tip over, a recipe for a very potent punch, and how the railway stations are "wonders of picturesque beauty."

While in England, Parker visits Oxford and mentions "I have dined in the Common Hall of Christ Ch. College and tea'd with a professor in his room." On the opposite page he adds a note: "This 'professor' was Rev. Charles L. Dodgson author of Alice in Wonderland &c." Included is a 15 x 17 cm b&w photo of "End of Broad Walk & Christ Church Col. Meadows from Mr. C. Dodgson's Window."

Of course, while Parker and Knight are travelling, their homeland is on the verge of Civil War and it weighs heavily on Parker's mind. He writes to his brother Henry on May 3 that "I expect to be in London on Monday - and shall not be surprised to receive letters of recall. Indeed the stirring news of the last few days - the Baltimore riot, more secession & etc would make a recall far from unwelcome. If nothing calls me home at once I shall hurry to Italy & then come moderately back to Paris." The Baltimore riot of April 19 was between Southern sympathizers and Massachusetts and Pennsylvania state militia troops en route to Washington for federal service. Numerous states had seceded from the union and would continue to do so over the coming days. On April 15, President Lincoln had called for 75,000 men to confront the South, which is why Parker expects to be called home.

Despite the situation in the States, Parker and Knight head for France where Parker's "first essay in French was on a gendarme and was not entirely successful - Mr. K. helped me out by the ingenious expedient of talking English." They run into a New Yorker who wants to "go home and hang Jeff Davis." They see the French Emperor and Empress with their little prince returning from the Tuileries. In Italy, Parker meets an officer of the Sardinian army who politely shows them around the battleground of Magenta. Parker describes the twists and turns of the railroad journey through the Alps, the gorgeous livery of servants in Vienna, and how dinner in France, Italy and Germany includes a bottle of wine at no extra charge but butter costs extra. He avoids art galleries but enjoys seeing the towns, people and shops. Then there's beds: "In England a bedstead is a structure, a thing to be thought of and concerning which an architect should be consulted. In France it is a work of high art and tends more to the idea of millinery. In Germany it becomes a box with feather pillows of enormous size variously disposed upon it."

Some of the hotels Parker stayed at are well known:
Mitre Hotel, Oxford - Built 1630, this was an important coaching inn owned by Lincoln College. Taking its name from the mitre of the Bishop of Lincoln featured in the college coat of arms, it ceased to be an inn in 1969 and is now a student residence for Lincoln College.
King's Arms, Kenilworth - Sir Walter Scott stayed here when writing his novel "Kenilworth."
Golden Cross Hotel, Charing Cross, London - An inn mentioned by Dickens in several works, it was demolished to make room for South Africa House on Trafalgar Square.
Hotel du Louvre, Paris - Historic hotel now owned by Hyatt, first built in 1855 but "relocated" across the street in the 1880s.
Lamb Hotel, Ely - Originally built as a coaching inn in the 15th century, The Lamb sits near Ely Cathedral, still open.
Gresham Hotel, Dublin - Historic building on O'Connell Street, built ca. 1817, still open, operated by RIU hotels.
The Imperial Hotel, Cork - built 1813, still open, and host to many famous guests including Frederick Douglass, Charles Dickens, President Kennedy, and Princess Grace.

Upon his return to the US, Parker was appointed a Major and commanded the First Battalion, Massachusetts Infantry. The Battalion, organized in November 1861 to garrison Fort Warren, Boston Harbor, formed the nucleus of the 32nd Infantry as it formed in the winter of 1861 and spring of 1862. Parker was commissioned and mustered as Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment on May 25, 1862, promoted to Colonel on August 6, 1862. He resigned his commission on December 27, 1862. After the Civil War, he moved to Newton, Mass. where he became Water Commissioner 1874-75. He was elected to the Massachusetts state senate in 1876 (he had already been elected to that body in 1858). He also found time to write a number of books, including a history of the 32nd Infantry and a genealogy of his mother's family, the Ainsworths.

Interestingly, Parker seems like a man of our own time in one paragraph, a man of his own in the next. His descriptions are never dull and his family must have looked forward to each installment. This scrapbook is a treat for both real and armchair travellers, "Yank" or otherwise.