George and John G. Bond Journals

George and John G. Bond Journals

Journals of George Bond and James Gorham Bond written during voyages to Europe and the Pacific Ocean, respectively. George Bond's journal contains his account of his Grand Tour of Europe, which he undertook in 1826. The daily entries begin with his departure from Boston to reach a packet ship in New York, and continue (except for days of seasickness), throughout the trip. Bond regularly noted the towns he passed through, sights seen in each, people encountered, consulate and customs officials, and other details of travel. His trip took him from Liverpool across England, then through France, Italy, Switzerland, the German states, the Netherlands, and back to Liverpool. Most of Bond's stops were places of historic or aesthetic importance, such as Bath Abbey or Benjamin West's picture gallery in London, though he also visited industrial towns. The end of the journal contains an intinerary with the distance Bond travelled each day. James G. Bond Journal. Diary of the son of a Boston merchant trying to set himself up in business in the Pacific. Spends time in Hawaii, Whampoa, Manila, and Kamchatka in the early 1850s. Very descriptive writing with observations about each port, merchants there, and how the trade system worked; also includes details like getting a daguerreotype of his mother copied as an oil portrait by a Chinese artist. James Gorham Bond's journals begin with his time as a student at Exeter Academy and continue to his travels in the Pacific. Most is written in a bound diary, supplemented by three narrative letters to Bond's mother which he titled 'Personal Journal.' Bond was a descriptive writer, detailing his observations of Hawaii, Kamchatka, Whampoa, Canton, and Manila; the people he encountered in his travels; and his own actions as a supercargo and aspiring merchant in the Pacific world. He spends less time detailing voyages at sea, with the exception of his final trip to San Francisco, where he wrote at length of the Chinese immigrants in the ship's hold and the Chinese merchants with whom he shared the cabin. Bond's descriptions of student life at Exeter are equally detailed, covering about a year of his studies.