LIBRARIES BEFORE LIBRARY TOURISM IN THOMAS NUGENT'S GRAND TOUR

Abstract

Tourism found one of its earliest forms in the long journeys undertaken by noblemen to various parts of Europe. Called “The Grand Tour”, they began in the 16th century and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term “Grand Tour” was first used in 1670 but became widespread in the 18th century, especially after 1749 when Thomas Nugent's four-volume guidebook made it the title of a book. This paper traces the place of libraries along the routes described in that work. The object of the study is the libraries, and the subject is their place and importance through the eyes of the European traveler of the era that marked the birth of modern tourism. The paper aims to argue for the potential of libraries as eye-catching destinations, long before the term “library tourism” was coined, and the task is to trace all the libraries described in “The Grand Tour”. It is concluded that an understanding of the value of libraries as visitor attractions is evident from the survey, and the descriptions give a good insight into the solid foundations of library tourism – an uncut diamond with huge tourism potential.