Handwritten travel diary – from London to Palestine. Accompanied by photographs, postcards and maps. October 20 to December 10, 1906. English.
A handwritten diary documenting a journey of several weeks, amongst the central cities and sites of Palestine – Jaffa, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, Haifa, Tiberias, and elsewhere. The diary is written in a large notebook, on the right side of each double-spread. Mounted on the left side of each spread are more than a hundred photographs – most of them taken by the diarist and her companions – as well as postcards depicting the views of the country, maps and several paper items that were collected during the journey.
The journey documented in the diary started in London. The diarist and her companions sailed from London to Port Said on board of SS Caledonia. From Port Said, they sailed to Jaffa and after a short stay in the city, travelled to Jerusalem by train. They stayed in Jerusalem for about two weeks, during which they visited dozens of holy and important sites in the city and its surroundings, such as the Temple Mount, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Via Dolorosa, Gethsemane, Calvary and the Valley of Josaphat; they also visited Bethlehem, the Inn of the Good Samaritan, Jericho, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, Bethany and more. When they were staying in Jerusalem, the travelers also visited the Jewish Quarter, which the diarist describes as follows: "We went to the Jews' Wailing Place, and though it was not Friday, we were fortunate enough to find a good number of Jews there and hear them wail…".
From Jerusalem, they returned to Jaffa and took the sea rout to Haifa from which they continued to Tiberius, Capernaum, Nazareth and other important sites in northern Palestine. Returning by ship from Haifa to Jaffa, they continued to Egypt and then back to England.
The photographs integrated into the diary depict many sites throughout Palestine (alongside additional sites visited on the journey through Europe and Egypt), including the view from the roof of the house of Simon the Tanner in Jaffa, the train station in Jaffa, a general view of Jerusalem, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, the Tombs of the Kings, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, the views of Samaria, the village of Lubya in the Lower Galilee, the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth and more. Some of them depict the travelers themselves. Several photographs depict the dragoman who accompanied the group on their journey.
The diary is bound in purple leather, the spine gilt-embossed with the inscription "Palestine Private Diary 1906".
[71] leaves; approx. 120 photographs; approx. 120 postcards; and more. 41.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor blemishes. Minor worming. Purple leather binding, restored. Blemishes and worming to binding.