ABSTRACT
In 1802 and 1803, the first and second volumes of the Briefe während meines Aufenthalts in England and Portugal [Letters Composed during My Stay in England and Portugal] written by Esther Bernard (née Gad) were published by Campe in Hamburg. While this work did not receive great acclaim, its appearance did not go wholly unnoticed by literary critics either. The reviewer of the Allgemeine Litemtur-Zeitung of 20 December 1803 was impressed by the originality of the material on Portugal and intrigued by the account's imaginative use of detail:
Kleine Begebenheiten weiß eine solche Reisende zu nutzen [. . .] und macht sie den Lesern interessant. Ein Reisender hingegen, der bloß um sich und andere zu unterrichten reiset, muß in einem Lande, wo sehr vieles nicht untersucht ist, erst von der Gewalt der Tatsachen zu lebhaften Aeußerungen gezwungen werden. 1
[A lady traveller such as herself knows how to draw on minor occurrences [. . .] and make them interesting for the readers. A gentleman traveller, by contrast, who only travels to instruct himself and others, must, in a country where much has not been studied, first be compelled by the force of events to produce lively utterances.]
Rather slower to appear, the review in the Neue Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek of 1805 praised the achievements of this 'geistreiches Frauenzimmer' [ingenious lady] and admired the work's expression of fine feeling which was conveyed not only in its subject matter but also its mood. 2 These were, the reviewer implied, what shaped this account more than its factual accuracy or novelty. Moreover:Man muß hierauf etwas Rücksicht nehmen, und nicht die unparteyische Kälte eines vielleicht gefühllosern und auf Kleinigkeiten weniger achtenden Mannes erwarten. Auch sind kleine Erzählungen und Verse in die Nachrichten verwebt: man muß also auf den dichterischen, verschönernden Geist etwas abrechnen. 3
[We must take this into consideration and not expect the impartial coldness of a perhaps less sensitive man who pays less attention to detail. Moreover short stories and poems are woven into the information: it is therefore important to take into account this work's poetic, embellishing spirit.]
Thus travel writing by women continued into the nineteenth century to be seen as characterized by a subjective reporting style which was influenced by the sensibilities of the viewer and had a greater focus on detail. In the case of Gad's account, the factual prose of the 'Nachrichten' was even interspersed with the unconventional combination of poetry and anecdotal description.