Category Archives: Travel

Amateur drawings

Among Douce’s drawings in the Ashmolean there are many by amateurs like Francis Cohen (1788-1861). In 1823, Cohen changed his name to Palgrave and married one of Dawson Turner’s daughters, Elizabeth. Douce and Cohen became close friends and they met … Continue reading

Posted in Antiquaries, Collections and Collectors, Drawings, Engravings, Networks, Physicians, Prints, Travel | Comments Off on Amateur drawings

Douce’s Persian manuscripts

Among Douce’s portraits of ‘Learned Foreigners’ there is a plate from the European Magazine depicting the traveller Mirza Abu Talib Khan Isfahani (1752-1806): Douce wrote under the portrait: “This gentleman paid me a visit in Gower Street”. Their meeting must have … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Collections and Collectors, Manuscripts, Networks, Paintings, Travel | Comments Off on Douce’s Persian manuscripts

Mid-August in Messina

Between 1782 and 1787, the French painter and printmaker Jean Hoüel (1735-1813) published a travel book entitled Le Voyage pittoresque des isles de Sicile, de Malte et de Lipari. Douce included one of the 264 plates that illustrated Hoüel’s work … Continue reading

Posted in Aquatint, Festivals, Prints, Religion, Travel | Comments Off on Mid-August in Messina

Douce on holiday

Francis Douce was a man of habit. For many years he spent his summer holiday in Box Hill, near Dorking, enjoying what he called ‘the paradise of England’. But in 1795, he was advised to travel to Ramsgate for health … Continue reading

Posted in Letters, Travel | Comments Off on Douce on holiday