Letters from Abroad Vol. 1 (Munich and Dresden)

Letter-book containing copies of twelve letters from Ralph N Wornum to his father written from Munich and Dresden between April 1834 and August 1836. There is an index at the front and the book contains 89 pages. The letters appear to have been copied into the book when Wornum returned to England in 1840. They describe his journey through Belgium and Holland to Munich; his visits to churches, galleries and museums in both Munich and Dresden and his tours of the Bavarian highlands in pursuit of his studies on art. He includes comments on pictures he has seen, those he has copied and his own development as an artist. During his time in Dresden he realised that his interest in art history and art criticism was greater than his interest in being a practising artist. He records his meetings with the German artist Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, professor of philosophy Thiessch and Captain Basil Hall among others. Many of the letters relate to excursions and discussions with his companions, namely Fitzgerald, Kreüsser, Kenedy, Bunyan, Durand, De La Rue and Lane. The letters also contain details of his travel and living arrangements including costs, conditions, currency, accommodation (hotels, beds etc.), notes on politics, society and culture (particularly social classes), prisons, the police, civil disturbances, cholera; climate and topographical descriptions (Rhineland, Bavaria, Bohemia, Alps, Saxon Switzerland). Other places he visited include Antwerp, Liége, Cologne, Koblenz, Aschaffenburg, Augsburg, Schliessheim and Prague