The Newark Public Library has re-created this journey through vintage travel posters, fine prints, and illustrated books that highlight the history, architecture, and art of the cities along the grand tour route. The exhibit, The European Grand Tour: Visiting the Old World through the Collections of the Newark Public Library, will be on display in the Library's second floor gallery from April 7 through May 29, 2010.

According to historians Peter Hanns Reill and Ellen Judy Watson, the Grand Tour was commonly seen as the final step in a young man's (and at that time, never a woman's) education. It provided worldly cultural sophistication through exposure to foreign customs, experiencing great works of art and ancient ruins, and learning foreign languages. All of this was considered a necessity for a man of high social standing. These Grand Tours of the English gentry lasted into the early 19th century; but given that many cities along the old grand tour routes were major destinations to many other northern Europeans and also for Americans throughout the 19th century, one can argue that Grand Tours take place even today.

The exhibit will include engravings and etchings of European cities by various artists from the 16th to 20th centuries, maps from the 16th century, modern day tourist maps, and massive illustrated tomes of various cities often visited by these young gentlemen.

It will feature a postcard booklet, Relief Panorama of the Rhine, which unfolds to five feet in length, and a selection of oversized illustrated books, such as Le Nouvel Opéra de Paris, whose plates document the architecture of the famed Paris Opera House, and The History of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from its Foundation Extracted out of Original Charters, Records, Leiger-books and Other Manuscripts, which was published a few years before the Great London Fire of 1777 that devastated the original St. Paul's Cathedral.

Also included is a German pop-up book that highlights historic and modern sites in Berlin, and Tudor Homes of England with Some Examples from Later Periods, an oversized illustrated book on English architecture.

The Grand Tour is associated largely with England, where graduates from wealthy families viewed the trip as a critical step to attaining cultural enlightenment. The young men meandered through Europe for months or possibly even years (sometimes learning much more about liquor and women than culture and language, much to the chagrin of their creditors), traveling with unlimited funds and aristocratic connections, making the trip a symbol of prestige for the wealthy. However, young men of more modest means also often took their own Grand Tour, particularly if they obtained some sort of scholarship or funding to hone their talents in art, music, or other endeavors.

Author Lassels gave the journey its famous name Grand Tour in his 1679 book, An Italian Voyage, or a Compleat Journey through Italy, in which he extolled the virtues of traveling, saying it offered intellectual, social, ethical, and political benefits. His knowledge of art treasures, culture, and language was vast beyond most 17th century Englishmen, and he even took young men along on his travels, as most young gentlemen had a tutor on their Grand Tours.

Travelers who embarked on the tour often returned home with books, artifacts, paintings, and pictures that they picked up along the way. The Englishmen were expected to come back as more refined and well-learned aristocrats, using the knowledge they gained from their trip to influence the arts in England. Some historians have credited the Grand Tour for dramatically changing and improving British culture and architecture.

The European Grand Tour: Visiting the Old World through the Collections of the Newark Public Library is free and open to the public. For more information about the exhibit, please call 973-733-7745 or email specialcollections@npl.org.