ABSTRACT
Thefollowingcommentsareinnowayintendedtoprovideaconceptualor chronologicalframework,muchlesstosetlimitstothestudybyJeanVivies. Whetherbyanticipationorecho,theyaiminsteadtosuggestsomevariations onasubjectwhichwasfamiliartotheauthorsheexaminesandtotheir contemporaries:theGrandTour.Aculturalphenomenonandathemeof guidebooks,narrativesandcommentaries,theGrandTourwasitselfconstantly reworkedandsubjectedtoendlessvariations.ItsohappensthatJoseph Addison,whoseSpectatorheldswayovertheeighteenthcentury,wasalsothe authorofatravelnarrativewhichmarkedanepochassoonasitwaspublished in1705.NoviceswouldlongcarryhisRemarksonItalywiththemintheir discoveryofItaly,andthebooklastinglyinspiredthenarrativeswhichother travellerswroteoftheirownexperiences.Ifthereissuchathingasa'genre'of travelliteratureintheeighteenthcentury-andJeanViviesrightlyremarksthat itwouldbeproteanintheextreme-thenAddisonwouldhavetobethesource ofmanyofitsrecurrentfeatures.Attheotherendofthecentury,Wordsworth providesevidenceofaveritablemutationinthephilosophyofcontinental travelandtheaestheticsoftravelliterature.Butifthesetwohighlydifferent authorsarehereassociated,withAddisontolaunchandWordsworthtoclose thecentury(orrathertoopenanewone),itisnotjustforthesakeofanemblem. IntheSterneofASentimentalJourney,whoarguesfor'mutualtoleration'as thebestmeansofattaining'mutuallove',wemaybeabletofindaspokesman, aguide,toleadusfromAddisontoWordsworth.WithSterne'shelp,asortof paradoxicaldialoguebetweenthetwoauthorsmaybeimagined,inwhichthey movebeyondtheirdifferencestorespondtoandcompleteeachother,andthus sailusoverthehorizonofacenturywhichwastrulythegreatperiodintravel literature.
