Description
A long Autograph Letter Signed ‘J.R.Auldjo’, to Dr. Griffith, Bukarest, Walachia [Roumania], recording the departure of the maid requested by Griffith to Bukarest, difficulties of the journey, carriage expenses, servant problems, recording his thanks to Griffiths for the introduction to the Tegoborskis, asking him to forward some notes on Wallachian government left behind in Bukarest by Auldjo, and much else. About 1200 words across 4 pp. 10 x 8 inches, address panel, WIEN handstamp, minor marginal defects only, in good clean condition. Hotel de Londres, Vienna, 20 June 1826. Rare: a recent discovery. John Richardson Auldjo (1805 –1886), Canadian-British traveller, geologist, writer and artist. He was British Consul at Geneva. He was a close friend of Edward Bulwer-Lytton and a member of Sir William Gell’s inner circle at Naples. In 1827, during the early stages of his tour, he decided to climb to the top of Mont Blanc, going with six guides. At the summit he shared a bottle of wine with the guides and then sat down to write a short letter to his sister. The letter, still preserved today and signed on the back by all six guides, is one of the most evocative items in the Archives of the Alpine Club. Auldjo’s 1828 written account of the ascent, with his own illustrations, was a success and ran to three editions.