Impressions of London

From the late Summer of 1840

 €23.00

Impressions of London: from the late Summer of 1840, is a travel journal from a past era – translated in its entirety from Johan Peter Bager’s (1818-1888) original handwritten diary. Follow the young Swedish traveller, as he walks through the streets of København and Hamburg en route for London – the home of more than a million people and the greatest centre of trade in the world. The Victorian Age was in its youth and the well-oiled machinery of England’s prospering industries was bringing a new era of finance and trade to the expanding empire.

As he turns each corner, the young traveller is surprised, confused or even shocked as he experiences new forms of entertainment, architecture and technical innovation, to this can be added the countryside, the people and the social problems of the back streets – travel was an adventure, the school of life.

Johan Peter Bager’s travels through Europe, on the threshold of dramatic change, showed him the power and opportunities of industrialism and thereby introduced him to the vision of capitalism. Despite the enthusiasm of youth, he also reflected on the potential negative aspects to both the environment and mankind. On his return to Sweden he became deeply involved in local and national politics and worked hard to promote the building of a new infrastructure based on shipping and rail transport. On his earlier travels, he left a country that was vacillating between cottage industries and farming on the one hand, and industrialism on the other. From here he travelled to at Europe, more particularly England, where speed, innovation and a new approach was the order of the day.

Johan Peter Bager’s travel journal is a fascinating tale, a unique document of the day. We can almost hear the voices and see the buildings that thrilled and captivated his imagination in 1840. The trip was to inspire him throughout his later life as a successful businessman and Swedish Member of Parliament. Never before has this book, which is based on his hand-written notes and journals, been available to an international audience. The book is illustrated with contemporary maps from the cities he visited – København, Hamburg, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Hull and Malmö. By using these maps the reader can follow Bager’s journey and truly enjoy Europe in the 1840s.