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JULIA A. READ : 1932 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY OF A GRAND EUROPEAN TOUR AND OF THE GRAND MAN OF OPERA SHE ACCOMPANIES

12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. On offer is the original 1932 manuscript 'Grand European Tour' travel journal handwritten by Julia A. Read as evident from her inscription: "Munich Apr. 14th 1932 A note book in which to write impressions of things enjoyed & experienced in the six weeks since Havrah [William Lines Hubbard] and I left Wilmington Calif. On March 4th 1932 on the good ship San Francisco." Julia she is Hubbard's travel companion and while the relationship is not clearly specified it is assuredly intimate. In 1932 we find Hubbard [we list his diary separately] well ensconced as the world wide authority on Opera having in 1908 published a comprehensive history on the subject and as a Dramatic Arts editor for a major newspaper for many years he was considered no small expert in the related arts. A charming correspondent Julia may well be writing 'her' diary but this is really 'their' diary for Havrah/Hubbard, her companion and it seems intimately so, as she annotates his and her life on this very extended trip: what they read, what they eat, who they visit intermingle with the travel facts of the trip, the histories admired, the hotels and entertainments rated: "We have been here at the Ritz six weeks. Eric & Mathew seem to enjoy it here much. The Gardens are beautiful." And so much more as she begins retrospectively as she writes: "Havrah and I had such very comfortable cabins side by side that we enjoyed staying in them much time reading or looking out except when walking or eating or climbing about the ship. The Capt and all officers and waiters were very courteous and kind. Prof. & Frau Einstein proved pleasant and enjoyable traveling acquaintances. We were at the Capts table at the farewell dinner." Almost 200 pp quite well filled with a Grand European tour: Casa Riva, Hotel Eden, the Ritz and the social circle always includes a Baroness, a Grandee or such. But she also manages to surprise the reader when page after page we admire her observations. Here is a particularly touching entry: "May 31st Hotel Eden Sirmione Decoration Day in America Always since the war ended between the North and South in USA 61-65 - so many years ago on the 31st of May a bullet sent out by a sharp shooter found lodgement in my brother Spencer (Tom.) heart and he fell with a smile into the arms of a comrade." Online bio notes: William Lines Hubbard (1867-1951) worked off and on from 1891 to 1907 as music critic and editor of the Chicago Tribune -he was also dramatic editor (1902-7)-while teaching singing and living in Europe from 1893 to 1898. W. Dermot Darby (1885-1947), Farwell's coeditor, was a native of Ireland. Trained in England and New York, Darby served as secretary of the Modern Music Society in New York in 1916 and helped to edit The Art of Music (1914-17). Overall G+.. Book Condition: Good+

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