ATTILIO BRILLI

Lady Travellers and the Grand Tour

Tales, Passions, Adventures

For women the Grand Tour was unquestionably an opportunity for cultural refinement and entertainment, but also a crucial existential episode, often embodying a dramatic gesture of emancipation. Relating their travel experiences, 18th century ladies and later bourgeois women – including Anne-Marie du Boccage, Madame de Staël, and Mary Shelley – tell romantic love stories, as well as intrigues worthy of a gothic novel, against the backdrop of natural and artistic landscapes that stand out due to their glowing indifference. As Sydney Morgan and Anna Jameson have shown, women travellers display a special sensitivity that penetrates the most hidden folds of a country and allows them to listen without prejudice to its voices, explore its political conditions, customs and habits, and discover its inestimable riches.

Attilio Brilli is a major expert on travel literature; his books have been translated into several languages.

Donne in viaggio à la milor anglais

I. Venere fra cardinali e cicisbei

II. La «comare di Bath» va in viaggio

III. In carrozza con il cantante e il clavicembalo

IV. Le mogli gemelle

V. Una pittrice in fuga dalla Rivoluzione

VI. Finale di viaggio in nero

VII. Il viaggio mancato

VIII. Sedotta da Cagliostro

IX. L’amoroso Baedeker

X. L’oracolo delle viaggiatrici