Spain by Henry D. Inglis.

Spain by Henry D. Inglis. (2 volume set).  2 hardcover books published by Whittaker and Co. 1837, 316 pages and 307 pages.  EX LIBRARY.

“Henry David Inglis, pseudonym Derwent Conway (1795–1835) was a Scottish travel writer and journalist.”

These books are a little worse for wear.  At a 177 years old and ex library, it’s no wonder that time and use has left these books a little worn and aged.  The text is still clean and very readable and fortunately the books are both still in one piece… but only just.  Sometimes I look at these aged and worn books and imagine what they would like new or leather bound with gold lettering.  The reality though, is that they aren’t anything at all like new and a vegan wears more leather than these books have ever smelt.  Still, they are a nice pair and perfect for anyone with a passing interest in vintage travel books sans leather.

The big question is, who reads vintage travel books?  I know that I do… that is if it’s on a subject or an area that I’m interested in.  Spain is somewhere that I have read very little about, but I could be easily persuaded.  My recent experience with both on line and in the shop has been that travel book sales are not what they once were.  Vintage travel is an even harder sell.  I’m not sure why this is, but there seems to be a distinct lack of interest in reading about other people’s travel adventures particularly from a bygone era.  Who wants to read about some bloke encountering card playing ruffians:

“… I passed three ruffian looking men sitting under the wall playing cards; and perhaps prudence ought to have whispered to me to return; but an Englishmen with difficulty persuades himself of the possibility of violence in day-light; and the sun being above the horizon, I continued my walk.”

As I mentioned above, I love reading this sort of stuff and possibly/probably/unfortunately these books will be on the Huc & Gabet shelves long enough for me to do so.