Jenny Lane Journals Online

Jenny Lane Journals Online

Context area

Name of creator

Lane, Jenny

(1835-?)

Biographical history

Eldest daughter of George Lane, a market gardener in Pulborough, Sussex. Lady's maid to Lucy Renshaw, travelling companion of Amelia A. B. Edwards. She married twice, firstly to George Collins and then in 1885 to William Norton Western; this explains her ... »

Archival history

Previously in the hands of Jenny Lane's family (great-nephew Mr J. Martin of Broadstairs).

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Bonhams, London. Travel and Exploration, Sale 25106, 6 February 2019, lot 115. Acquired by the Griffith Institute at auction (£8,125.00) thanks to grants from the Friends of the National Libraries (50%), the Friends of the Petrie Museum (25%) and a ... »

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Journals of Jenny Lane, lady's maid to Lucy Renshaw, travelling companion of Amelia A. B. Edwards, describing in detail their various trips including the 1873-1874 journey through France and Italy, crossing from Brindisi to Alexandria on the Simla, thence up the Nile to Dendara, Karnak, Luxor, Aswan, Philae and Abu Simbel, and the return journey via Port Said, through Lebanon to Damascus, Baalbek and Beirut, Constantinople, Athens, and the Rhine. They contain vivid descriptions of the landscape, weather and peoples, and anecdotes and observations of fellow travellers and places visited. They cover the period from 4 September 1873 to 6 March 1876. 286 pages in three volumes, calf, worn, 8vo:

• I: 4 September 1873 to 24 March 1874, dark red cover, 17.5 x 11.5 x 2 cm, 194 pages;
• II: 1 May to 29 June 1874, dark blue cover, 18 x 11.7 x 0.9 cm, 70 pages;
• III: 26 February to 6 March 1876, black cover, 17.8 x 11.5 x 0.8 cm, 22 pages.