The Coast-Road by Thomas Nast, in Charles Dickens's Pictures from Italy, Sketches, and American Notes, sixth chapter, "By Verona, Mantua, and Milan. Across The Pass of the Simplon into Switzerland," 47. Wood-engraving, 4 ¼ by 5 ¼ inches (10.7 cm high by 13.4 cm wide), vignetted. The illustration appears at the head of the seventh chapter, "To Rome by Pisa and Siena."
Passage Illustrated: Picturesque but Inconvenient
The road itself — now high above the glittering sea, which breaks against the foot of the precipice: now turning inland to sweep the shore of a bay: now crossing the stony bed of a mountain stream: now low down on the beach: now winding among riven rocks of many forms and colours: now chequered by a solitary ruined tower, one of a chain of towers built, in old time, to protect the coast from the invasions of the Barbary Corsairs — presents new beauties every moment. When its own striking scenery is passed, and it trails on through a long line of suburb, lying on the flat sea-shore, to Genoa, then, the changing glimpses of that noble city and its harbour, awaken a new source of interest; freshened by every huge, unwieldy, half-inhabited old house in its outskirts: and coming to its climax when the city gate is reached, and all Genoa with its beautiful harbour, and neighboring hills, bursts proudly on the view. ["By Verona, Mantua, and Milan. Across The Pass of the Simplon into Switzerland," 32]
Relevant Marcus Stone illustrations for Pictures from Italy
Related Material
- Samuel Palmer — Pictures from Italy
- Gordon Thomson — Playing at Mora
- Charles Dickens, the traveler — places he visited
- Genoa and its Neighbourhood
- Charles Dickens's Tours of Italy
- Dickens and Family at the Villa di Bella Vista (The Bagnerello), Albaro: July-September, 1844
- Charles Dickens, 1843 daguerrotype by Unbek in America; the earliest known photographic portrait of the author
Scanned image, colour correction, sizing, caption, and commentary by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose, as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.] Click on the image to enlarge it.
Bibliography
Dickens, Charles. Chapter 4, "Genoa and its Neighborhood." Pictures from Italy, Sketches by Boz, and American Notes. Illustrated by A. B. Frost and Thomas Nast. The Household Edition. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1877. 19-32.
_______. Pictures from Italy and American Notes. Illustrated by A. B. Frost and Gordon Thomson. London: Chapman and Hall, 1880. 1-381.
Created 14 May 2019
Last modified 8 June 2020