c
Diaries concerning Holland and surrounding countries
davantage de l'expérience de leurs collègues étrangers et aux stagiaires de se mettre
plus profondément au courant de l'enseignement de l'Ecole des Chartes.
Quant a eet enseignement nous avons gagné la conviction qu'une formation simul-
tanément théorique et pratique soit préférable et garantisse mieux une spécialisation
professionnelle. En revanche, le système francais peut offrir des avantages pour
un archiviste départemental, qui, le plus souvent, sert en fonctionnaire culturel
général et doit se connaitre également a des objets d'art, des monuments, des trou
vailles archéologiques etc.
Cette critique pourrait suggérer a tort que le Stage n'ait pas grand intérêt pour
les étrangers. A tort: la plupart de ce que Ton nous a offert, nous l'avons beaucoup
estimée et en tiré grand profit pour l'exercice de notre profession. Ce furent aussi
notamment les visites a de diverses institutions d'intérêt pour les Archives et l'excur-
sion finale en Normadie, qui nous ont appris beaucoup. Du reste il va sans dire que
des contacts si prolongés avec des collègues venants de partout au monde, fournis-
sent une expérience unique.
Une contribution essentielle a la réussite du Stage a été livrée par M Robert Mar-
quant, conservateur en chef et directeur du Stage, avec son exactitude peu fran-
qaise a l'égard de l'organisation, comme avec son enthousiasme trés franqais.
C'est par l'expression de notre reconnaissance envers lui, que nous voulons con-
clure ce rapport.
J. Rinzema
B. Woelderink
1268
The object in writing this article is to bring to the notice of historians the existence
of certain travel diaries held in the Wigan Record Office, Central Library. Some of
these diaries relate directly to the Netherlands, while others relate to countries
around the Netherlands. But I feel that since there was so much inter-state poli
tical activity during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, tese diaries relating to
other European countries could well have great importance and significance.
I shall deal with them all in a chronological order and I shall endeavour to a
small degree to put the diaries in comparison and perspective with the concurrent
political events. Some of things seen and done by the diarists could indeed be
argued as results of the different concurrent events. A number of these diaries
could really only be described as Guide Books. But others are the records of the
day-to-day lives of sailors and soldiers. Reflections upon the times during the
Peninsular War and during the 7-years' War are evident. Pictures of 19th century
social life and architecture are to be imagined. In short, this is the stuff that brings
history alive. These are the words from the pens of contemporaries; and details in
a diary are not deliberately obscured; for one writes a diary not with the usual
literary formalities, but in a state of mental relaxation. We see the domestic and
homely, not the public and formal image.
By 1949 the Edward Hall Collection (EHC) of MS. diaries had been mostly
transferred. It was a donation by Edward Hall, an antiquarian, who lives in
England. The collection has been described at different times as remarkable1
and a number of the diaries in the collection have been mentioned and described
in Matthew's British Diaries, published by the University of California, USA,
1950. References to this book will be given in the footnotes as B/D page.
The article will fall into two parts: the first part will briefly describe the diaries
of people whose journeys relate to the Netherlands to a slight degree; and part
two will describe the visits to Dutch cities by Montagu Garrard, but will exclude
mundane day-to-day descriptions as seen by the average tourist.
Part I
The first travel diary I shall deal with is one by De la Fontaine2. There is some
1 Archives (the Journal of the British Records Association), vol. IX, No. 42, October,
1969, page 115.
-' EHC/196 - Acc. No. M996.
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