Journal of J. S. Cole

The diary starts with several pages written ornately to resemble book frontispieces. The first reads: 'A tour to Bath, Bristol, Clifton, Chepstow, Tintern Abbey, Monmouth, Gloucester, Cheltenham and Oxford.' It is dated 1815 and incorporates literary quotes extoling the virtues of travelling, including a quote from Shakespeare.

The diary provides a detailed depiction of a tour of the South of England, including substantial information on scenery, architecture, food, theatre visits and guided tours.

Through the course of the diary, there are citations included that appear to come from external sources such as scientific journals, poems and local media, demonstrating a well-read traveller.

There is liberal inclusion of embedded quotes within the diary. The nature of these embedded quotes indicates that the author is likely to have undertaken some research either prior to the travelling, or during the travelling in order to enhance the experience of encountering new places. These quotations from other sources add a lot of factual detail to the descriptions of places.

There are some pages missing from the diary.

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Purchase reported in University Librarian's Annual Report 1966/1967

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Papers arranged and described by Hamda Gharib, June 2019, in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; and in-house cataloguing guidelines.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Former location: MSS 7/iii/9