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Lot 274
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John A. Dix's European Travels, Described in Son Morgan's 150+ pp Diary, Complete with 55 Illustrations, Including a Family Portrait!
John A. Dix's European Travels, Described in Son Morgan's 150+ pp Diary, Complete with 55 Illustrations, Including a Family Portrait!
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Description:

John A. Dix's European Travels, Described in Son Morgan's 150+ pp Diary, Complete with 55 Illustrations, Including a Family Portrait!

A remarkable travel diary penned by Morgan Dix (1827-1908), the only son of Civil War Major General John Adams Dix (1798-1879), recorded between May - July 1855 while touring modern day Italy and France. The manuscript, which is approximately 156 pages in length, features 55 of Morgan's original illustrations. The album has brown leather boards gilt-embossed with floral and foliate designs, and marbled front and back pastedown and loose endpapers. The covers are both detached and the spine is missing, but the inner pages are securely fastened. Expected wear including light toning, scattered stains, and grubbiness to the paper, and minor scuffs and loss to the covers, else very good to near fine. 8.25" x 6.875" x .75."

The Dix family traveled from Rome to Le Havre during the spring and summer of 1855. The family included: John A. Dix, his wife Catherine Morgan Dix (1802-1884), son Morgan, and several other family members and attendants [John, Charley, Lisbeth, Kitty, Menina, relation to the Dixes unknown.] Morgan Dix was both the author and the artist of the journal, thought that fact is not explicitly stated. Morgan refers to himself throughout the narrative (excluding the supplement) in the third person as "M." He does not sign the work at its conclusion; instead, his only two signatures appear on pages 138 and 139, when he includes a partial transcript of a letter addressed to him from a family member named Lisbeth. In addition to these clues, however, we know that the handwriting here corresponds to known examples of Morgan Dix's handwriting.

Morgan Dix included excerpts from this very diary in "The Memoirs of John Adams Dix Compiled by his Son Morgan Dix" (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1883) to describe the family's European tour, on pages 290-298. In the "Memoirs," Morgan Dix described this very album as "…a journal, freely illustrated with caricature sketches… kept by one of the party. A few extracts, with facsimiles of some of the grotesque drawings, may amuse the reader…"

Morgan's "grotesque" illustrations can more accurately be described as delightful. The family stopped at more than 40 towns and cities during their trip from Rome north and west to Le Havre, including Spoleto, Perugia, Florence, Pisa, Genoa, San Remo, Nice, Cannes, Marseilles, Paris, and Rouen, with Morgan sketching along the way. The 55 illustrations were executed in pen and ink (47), pencil (6), and watercolor (2). They range in size from margin size (16) to nearly full page size (4), with the majority being about half page sized or a little less (35). About two thirds of the illustrations are accompanied by wry captions, such as: "Mother sends for Selzer-Water and gets Absinthe. Terni, May 8th."

Morgan's illustrations depict members of his family; the places they traveled (from celebrated natural landmarks or architectural features); the locals (from beggars, omnipresent in central Italy, to hoteliers); fellow travelers (mostly English tourists); and modes of travel (coach, omnibus, railroad, and steamship.) One of the most outstanding illustrations is found on page 122, (No. 46 in the list below) entitled "MDCCCLV!! Imaginary Sketch; a family enjoying themselves in Paris." Morgan has drawn himself (recognizable by his spectacles) and his father John A. Dix (identifiable by his Amish beard), along with his mother, and several others in this comic cartoon lampooning the miserable Parisian weather.

Morgan Dix adapts a humorous tone throughout his journal, showing a keen appreciation for the strange, absurd, and ironic. He comments on amusing events which happened during the journey, or muses about the idiosyncrasies of his family members, especially his father, "the General." He makes observations about the natural scenery, art, architecture, weather, local culture, politics, history, and human nature. Of especial interest is Morgan's occasional references to current events in 1855, such as the ongoing Crimean War, the so far unsuccessful attempts to unify the Italian city-states, and the recently elevated Emperor Napoleon III.

See below for some interesting excerpts mostly pertaining to Morgan's father, John A. Dix, as well as a complete list of the Illustrations.

Excerpts

- 1st Day, May 7, 1855

"On Monday the 7th of May, 1855, the family Dix were all awake and flying round at an unusually early hour. The morning was cloudy, and rain had already fallen, so that their spirits generally were somewhat dull by reason of forebodings of bad weather; but the General consoled them by an Irish proverb to this effect, 'If it rains before seven in the morning, the divil [sic] a bit will it rain that day.' Breakfast having been dispatched, the important information came that the Vetturino [coachman] was at the door, and the process of packing the trunks behind + on top of the carriage was commenced…"

- 8th Day, May 24, 1855

"Dr. Giglioli proved to be a highly intelligent man. Like most such in this part of the world, he was a patriot, and wrote a book some years ago in favour of the Consolidation of Italy…He was very much opposed to their [Sardinia] uniting in the war against Russia but said it could not be helped as France + England forced them into it. Father said to him that there could be no consolidation in Italy while the Pope remained a temporal prince…"

-1st Day, June 5, 1855

"Suddenly, as the trunks are about to be taken down a loud exclamation is heard from Father. 'Now there is a thing which I dislike more than any thing [sic] else in this world.' We all, deeply impressed and anxious to inform ourselves as to the particular cause of so decided an antipathy, rushed to the spot, and perceived a trunk which had been so carelessly closed that one of the linen straps which hold up the top was left hanging outside. All took warning for the future…"

- 3rd Day, June 7, 1855

"What were the indignation + horror of Father, on critically examining his bill after we had started, to discover that he had been cheated out of five francs!...There was no remedy but to gnash the teeth and submit; it would not have been worth the five francs to return. Alas! that butter! fit emblem of the slipperiness and smoothness of the Brignolese…"

- [Marseilles to Paris]

"Father in particular excited by the intensity of his feelings the liveliest sympathy and the most tender compassion. He made no scruple of taking off his coat, and in that condition of shirt-sleeve enjoyed a degree of relief; although intervals of purgatorial heat occurred whenever we arrived at a station, for at such moments a delicate regard for the credit of the party obliged him to resume his habilement…"

- [Marseilles to Paris]

"…to our inextinguishable delight we perceived Father + John heading a relieving party and coming up very fast…The General's voice was heard commanding us all to dismount at once, as he had engaged another omnibus, on which all our luggage was already packed…"

List of Illustrations

1. Untitled (depicting female occupants in coach)

2. "Lisbeth's manner of enjoying fine scenery. Civita Castellana: May 8th."

3. "Mother sends for Selzer-Water and gets Absinthe. Terni, May 8th."

4. "Noah's Ark: Terni"

5. "Climbing into Bed. (From an original sketch by the Doctor.)"

6. "Securing the services of a competent guide, we go in search of Perugino's frescoes, and bring up at the door of the Common Prison."

7. "May 11th. / 55. Monte Varchi; [illegible] della Porta [?]"

8. "View in Pisa."

9. "Charley, being afflicted with a bad cold in his head, takes a novel method of drying his pocket-handkerchief."

10. Untitled (showing an example of the diminutive hat typically worn by older women)

11. "Sarzana Woman, with the head-dress of the place."

12. "Crossing the Magra."

13. Untitled (depicting a seascape)

14. "Borghetto."

15. Untitled (showing a doctor with exceptionally long legs)

16. No. 4 Graffito in Rocco; "Go it! ye cripple."

17. Untitled (depicting John and Charley capturing flies)

18. "Englishman with Electric Head."

19. "M. having Taken in a cargo of Asti wine and Pigeons à la Olive Sauce, visits Alexandria on the following day, accompanied by Dr. Giglioli."

20. "Lizzie goes to meditate by the 'Sad Sea Waves,' + is assailed by the Savages."

21-25. Untitled (part of a series recounting the story of Pope Sixtus V and palm leaves)

26. Untitled (showing a typical hill in Ventimiglia)

27. Untitled (depicting Marcelin Ravel, the Dix family coachman, in traditional French dress)

28. Untitled (showing the Pont Neuf in Nice)

29. Untitled (depicting a mill)

30. Untitled (showing a trunk)

31. "M. attempting to salute the memorials of Napoleon, astonishes peasants."

32. Untitled (depicting Roman tower at Fréjus)

33. Untitled (showing Roman arch at Fréjus)

34. "Fréjust Woman + baby. (From an original sketch by Menina.)

35. "Lizbeth Reposes."

36. "People playing Ball in parts unknown."

37. "Discovery of the Troubadour."

38. "The Travelling Companions of the Family Dix."

39. "Father en route: comfortable / Approaching a Station. / Father transformed: at station; uncomfortable."

40. "The Family retreat in good order to their own Omnibus."

41. Untitled (depicting the purported tomb of Pontius Pilate in Vienne)

42. Untitled (showing an ancient tower where Pontius Pilate is reputed to have committed suicide in Vienne)

43. Untitled (depicting the landscape in Vienne)

44. Untitled (showing Lizzie with an unusual coiffure)

45. "'Tired Nature's Sweet Restorer, balmy Sleep.'"

46. "MDCCCLV!! Imaginary Sketch; a family enjoying themselves in Paris."

47. "Paris Fashions; June 1855; For Gentlemen."

48. "Uncommon lively appearance of the port of Havre."

49. Untitled (depicting Lizzie with Bodkin)

50. Untitled (showing a transatlantic steamship)

51. View of State-room No. [] on the day of sailing. Mr. Locke takes out a few little things to make himself and Mr. Lanier comfortable on the voyage."

52. "Extent of the Evangel.l Oratorian's Zeal."

53. "You'll never see me again!"

54. "Allegorical Sketch: (Very far) after Masaccio."

55. "'Atlantic'; July 22d 1855. 8 1/2 o'clk. P.M."

Morgan Dix graduated from Columbia College in 1848 and the General Theological Seminary in 1852. In 1855, he was in between ministerial roles, having left St. Mark's Church in Philadelphia. Reverend Dix was associated with Trinity Church in New York City between 1855 and his death, where he served as assistant minister between 1855-1862 and as rector between 1862-1908.

John A. Dix would play several important roles in the Civil War in his capacity as Union Army Major General. Dix was responsible for keeping Maryland in the Union by devising an ingenious ploy; by arresting six members of the Maryland legislature, he prevented the assembly from convening and voting on the question of secession. Dix also arranged a gentleman's agreement with Confederate General Daniel Harvey Hill--often referred to as the Dix-Hill Cartel--concerning the exchange of Union and Confederate prisoners of war in mid-1862.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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