A Picture of a Country: Illustrated Travel Accounts by Continental Europeans

For centuries, continental Europeans have come to Wales for numerous reasons. During the Romantic period some came seeking a rural idyll, whilst others in the Victorian era travelled as industrial spies; and during times of war many refugees escaped to Wales to find shelter from persecution. Not only have continental Europeans left their traces among the people of Wales settling here but they have also written extensively about their experience in diaries, letters, books and magazines or, more recently, in blogs on the internet. Similarly, professional artists have been inspired by the Welsh landscape and industrial towns and have produced a myriad of images in the shape of quick sketches, paintings or photographs. This talk outlines the development of illustrated travel accounts by travellers from mainland Europe since the late eighteenth century. Not only do these accounts reflect artistic and technological trends in representing Wales to a foreign audience, but they also indicate the travel of ideas and aesthetic concepts through time and place.