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The Polite Tourist: Four Centuries of Country House Visiting

Rebecca's Manderley, Jane Eyre's Thornfield, Pride and Prejudice's Pemberley — just the names of these fictional English estates conjure up romantic images of majestic architecture, sweeping gardens, impressive artworks, and lavish interiors. This illustrated volume takes readers on a grand tour of the real-life counterparts to these fictional stately homes, and draws on letters, drawings, paintings, and journals to trace their appeal to visitors through four centuries.Visiting historic houses has a long tradition in England. Elizabethans marveled at royal and private palaces such as Hampton Court in Surrey and Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. Victorian sightseers took advantage of the brand-new railroad to see grand homes like Chatsworth and Knole, descending in droves on their elaborately landscaped grounds. Adrian Tinniswood explains the phenomenon of tourism and why millions continue to visit these and other country houses and their gardens, many of them maintained by the National Trust.

  • Format
  • hardcover
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9780810963726
  • Genres
  • history, travel, architecture
  • Release date
  • 1999