ABSTRACT

John Van Buren's 'Travel journal for a trip to Europe, 1838-1839' is a record of the a year he spent in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium and Holland, primarily for his father, Martin Van Buren, the 8th President of the United States. A fly-on-the-wall view of the political and social situation in Europe was invaluable to the President at a highly sensitive moment in Anglo-American relations, and provides a rich and insightful view for historians of the period. Published in its entirety for the first time, Van Buren's objective and good-humoured observations present fresh insights into complex and compelling personalities and relationships on both sides of the Atlantic, providing an invaluable and highly readable resource for scholars and students of the period, as well as for the general reader.

part |158 pages

Letters to Martin Van Buren

chapter 1|10 pages

At sea

25 May – 10 June 1838

chapter 2|44 pages

London

11 June – 15 September 1838

chapter 3|23 pages

Doncaster to the SS Liverpool

16 September – 28 October 1838

chapter 4|34 pages

Ireland

29 October – 19 December 1838

chapter 5|17 pages

Scotland and the North

20 December 1838 – 16 January 1839

chapter 6|13 pages

London

16 January – 19 February 1839

chapter 7|7 pages

Europe

20 February – 18 April 1839

chapter 8|8 pages

London and the SS Great Western

19 April – 18 May 1839