Guide to Windermere
With Tours to the Neighboring Lakes and Other Interesting Places

Martineau's 1854 Windermere handbook represents an early example of a literary tourist guide, combining practical information with rich descriptive writing.

Harriet Martineau (Author)

9781108018357, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 September 2010

146 pages, 7 b/w illus. 1 map
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.37 kg

Described by George Eliot as 'the only English woman that possesses thoroughly the art of writing', Harriet Martineau held a prominent position in the intellectual life of Victorian culture. This 1854 guide to Windermere was the first in her series of guides to the Lake District, leading eventually to her hugely successful Complete Guide to the English Lakes. In this Guide, Martineau engages with the emerging industry of literary tourism, and describes why the thriving village of Windermere warranted a 'new guide book'. She appreciatively details the natural features of the district and its architecture, and presents accounts of scenic walks and day tours to the neighbouring lakes, combining practical information with literary passages of description. An outstanding woman of her time, Martineau followed in Wordsworth's footsteps by fusing her identity with the local landscape of the Lake District, continuing its rich literary associations.

Index
Guide to Windermere
First tour, by Newby Bridge and Ulverstone to Furness Abbey, returning by Coniston, Hawkshead, and the Ferry
Second tour, by Troutbeck to Kirkstone Pass and Patterdeal, and home by Ambleside
Third tour, by the Ferry, and the Wray, and Brathay Valley, to High Close, and down Red Bank to Grasmere and Easedale, and thence by Rydal to Ambleside
A day on the mountains
Excursions to and from Keswick
Of the flowering plants, ferns, and mosses of Windermere and its neighbourhood
Mountains and passes
Lakes and waterfalls
Directory
Advertisements.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]