Description

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In Europe within Reach Gerrit Verhoeven traces some sweeping evolutions in the early modern travel behaviour of Dutch and Flemish elites (1585-1750), as the classical Grand Tour was slowly but surely overshadowed by other types of travelling.
Leisure trips to Paris, London or Berlin, a cours pittoresque along the Rhine, domestic trips in the Low Countries and a series of other destinations gained ground, while new sorts of travellers cropped up: female and middle-class travellers, domestic servants, children, youngsters and the elderly.
Verhoeven does not only trace these evolutions, but also explains why Netherlandish travellers gradually turned into art connoisseurs; why they were spellbound by sites of memory and by rugged landscapes; or why all sorts of fashionable gadgets and thingies were bought on the way.

About the Author

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Gerrit Verhoeven, (Ph.D. 2008) works at the universities of Antwerp, Ghent and Leiden and lectures in early modern history. He has published articles and books on travel and tourism; on time awareness and human capital; on the resilience of social relations; and on book history.