Submitted by scott on

7th ed. Leisics Karl Baedeker, 1877. 470 pp.

Mark Twain made references to this guidebook in Notebook 15 (1878, N&J 2:77), Notebook 16 (1878, N&J 2: 161), and Chapter 35 of A Tramp Abroad (1880). Twain questioned Baedeker’s estimates of distances on a few occasions, but the majority of his references to Baedeker's Switzerland were complimentary and a few were exceedingly favorable. In one of his notebooks in 1878, for instance, he praised “the iron integrity of Baedeker, who tells the petrified truth about hotels & everything. A wonderful guide book—a marvelous faithful & pains-taking work—you can go anywhere without a human guide, almost. And this book is absolutely correct & reliable” (NB 16, N&J 2: 161). He repeated a version of these remarks in Chapter 46 of A Tramp Abroad (1880): “Baedeker knows all about hotels, railway and diligence companies, and speaks his mind freely. He is a trustworthy friend of the traveler.” Chapters 22, 28, 35, 36, 38, and 39 of A Tramp Abroad contain other generalized references to Baedeker's series of guidebooks.

Gribben

Reference Type
Book
Author
Bædeker, Karl
Publisher
Karl Bædeker
Published Year
1877
subtitle
Handbook for Travellers