The Letters of John B. S. Morritt of Rokeby

This works is an account by John Bacon Sawrey Morritt (1771–1843), traveller, classical scholar and friend of Sir Walter Scott, of his Grand Tour during the years 1794–6. His letters home were edited by G. E. Marindin (1841–1939) and published in 1914. In 1790 Morritt inherited the Rokeby estate, County Durham, and came into a considerable fortune. Educated at St John's College, Cambridge, he graduated in 1794, and soon afterwards set out for the continent. Visiting Constantinople, Troy, the Greek islands, Crete, Naples, Rome and Venice, Morritt developed a lifelong passion for European art and culture (he purchased the Rokeby Venus in 1813). He was well-read in Greek and Latin literature, had a considerable taste for antiquarian research, and was undeterred by the dangers of traversing Europe during the French Revolutionary Wars. According to his editor, 'it would be difficult to imagine a better traveller'.