James West FRS (1703–1772) An important manuscript Tour jour...

James West FRS (1703–1772) An important manuscript Tour journal and commonplace book, principally recording travels through France and the Low Countries. Sunday, July 23 to Thursday, Sept 29, 1732 Small octavo manuscript volume; pp.102 and ten blank pages, extensively written in black ink, principally in English with passages and notes in French and Latin; several leaves left blank between the principal journal and a series of memoranda written in reverse from the opposite end; contemporary marbled paper-covered boards, rubbed and worn, with losses to the marbled paper and exposed edges, spine and corners worn; some leaves chipped or torn at the fore edge, occasional spotting, staining and ink offsetting, but generally legible and good; unsigned, but almost certainly by James West. A remarkably detailed record of West's continental travels, beginning with his departure from London via Gravesend and continuing through Calais, Boulogne, Abbeville, Amiens, Breteuil and Chantilly to Paris. West records visits and excursions to Versailles, Marly, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Meudon, Saint-Denis, Montmartre, Bercy, Saint-Maur and Montgeron, before travelling north through Cambrai, Douai and Lille and onwards through the Low Countries, including Antwerp, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam. The return journey was made from Hellevoetsluis to Harwich. A later section records a shorter English journey through Dartford, Rochester, Canterbury, Sandwich, Deal and Dover. The journal provides a vivid picture of the intellectual and collecting pursuits of an eighteenth-century traveller; visits to churches, palaces, libraries, universities and private collections; attendance at lectures and learned demonstrations; meetings with scholars, clergy, artists, booksellers, collectors and dealers. West carefully notes books, maps, prints and curiosities purchased, together with prices, travel expenses and the names and addresses of booksellers and agents. Particularly notable is West's eyewitness account of the first public performance of Voltaire's Zaïre on 2 August 1732 Old Style, which he judged: "Both the Performance & Representation were good." On the following evening at Versailles he witnessed Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszczyńska at supper, writing that "Nothing can exceed the Majesty of the Kings or Sweetness of the Queens looks & behaviour." On 10 August, after a busy day in Paris, West attended the annual blessing of the Musketeers' standards at Notre-Dame. His account captures the ecclesiastical splendour of the ancien régime, fifty-seven years before the French Revolution: "Nothing can exceed the Magnificence of the Abp of Paris seated on his Throne", hung with cloth of gold and red velvet. He describes the Archbishop's gold mitre, silver-tissue robe laced and flowered with gold and supported by two priests, silver-gilt crozier and pastoral ring; thirty footmen in scarlet liveries lined with yellow; and a large crucifix and Bible bound in red velvet carried before him. Among the notable entries are accounts of Albertus Seba and his celebrated Amsterdam cabinet of shells, minerals, preserved animals and other natural curiosities; the Antwerp painter and collector Pieter Snyers; the Parisian engraver Drevet; and the print-dealing Mariette family. West refers to Michel de Marolles's celebrated catalogue of engravings and draws up an extensive scheme for arranging a portrait-print collection, encompassing English and Scottish monarchs, the Houses of York and Stuart, officers of state, the nobility, writers, artists and the English clergy. Numerous engravers and portrait subjects are listed, including Wenceslaus Hollar, William Faithorne, Robert White, John Faber, John Smith and Lucas Vorsterman. In the Netherlands West visited a Delft pottery manufactory, inspected anatomical preparations and embalmed bodies at Rotterdam, and encountered the Royal Society experimental philosopher John Theophilus Desaguliers, who was travelling to The Hague "to perform some Experiments." At the rear is a record of a private gathering, in the chamber of the antiquary Francis Peck at Thavies Inn, Holborn. Those named as present include the leading Nonjurors Jeremy Collier, Thomas Brett, Archibald Campbell, James Gadderar, Roger Laurence, Thomas Deacon and Thomas Wagstaffe. Related memoranda discuss the disputed Nonjuror "Usages": the mixed chalice, eucharistic oblation, invocation of the Holy Spirit and prayers for the faithful departed. Further contents include copied monumental inscriptions, among them a Latin memorial to Richard Harding, a supporter of Charles II during the royal exile; notes on antiquities, armour and works of art; distances and itineraries; accounts dated 1730; theological and bibliographical memoranda; and lists of booksellers, prints and portraits. A substantial early record of West's intellectual and collecting life, anticipating the library and "museum of curiosities" dispersed after his death. The latter was sold by Messrs Langford over seven sale days from 27 February 1773; the celebrated Bibliotheca Westiana followed from 29 March, extending over twenty-four sale days.

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