Thomas Coryat
Thomas Coryat (also Coryate) (c. 1577 – 1617) was an English traveller and writer of the late
Life and writings
Coryat was born in
From May to October 1608 he undertook a tour of Europe, somewhat less than half of which he walked. He travelled through France and Italy to Venice, and returned via Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.[1] He published his memoirs of the events in a volume entitled Coryat's Crudities hastily gobbled up in Five Months Travels in France, Italy, &c (1611).[1][5] This volume gives a vivid picture of life in Europe during the time.[6]
The work is particularly important to music historians for giving extraordinary details of the activities of the
Ever restless, he set out once again in 1612, this time on a journey that would ultimately lead to Asia, visiting
Tomb
The place of his tomb is uncertain. As there was no regular English cemetery at Surat then, his body was buried north of the town on the western side of road leading to
Legacy
British travel writer and historian
British travel writer and humorist Tim Moore retraced the steps of Coryat's tour of Europe, as recounted in his book Continental Drifter (2000). In 2008 Daniel Allen published an account of his nine-month cycle trip following Coryat's journey to the East, entitled The Sky Above, The Kingdom Below.
Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler spoke at the Australian Festival of Travel Writing about Thomas Coryat. Wheeler traced Coryate's (his spelling) journey as he observed the invention of leisure travel. He visited his supposed tomb at Rajgari near Surat in 2010.[13]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h Michael Strachan, "Coryate, Thomas (c. 1577–1617)", in Literature of Travel and Exploration: an Encyclopedia, 2003, Volume 1, pp.285–87
- ISBN 0-906456-98-3.
- ^ Strachan, Michael (October 2006). "Coryate, Thomas (1577?–1617)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 30 June 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Foster, William, ed. (1921). Early Travels in India 1583-1619. Oxford University Press. p. 234.
- ISBN 0946159483.
- ^ "I. The First Tourist (1611) - Thomas Coryat | Osher Map Library". Archived from the original on 24 November 2015.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95279. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Wright, Arnold (1914). Early English adventurers in the East. London: A. Melrose Ltd. p. 173.
- ^ Petroski 1992, pp. 8−9.
- ^ Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 1861. pp. 153–155. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ^ "Thomas Coryat, 1612 - 1617 (Quellenkunde zur indischen Geschichte bis 1858)". www.payer.de. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-00-654415-9.
- ^ "Tony Wheeler: Thomas Coryate, The First Tourist". The Wheeler Centre. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
References and further reading
- Adams, Percy G. Travel Literature and the Evolution of the Novel. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 1983. 215–22. ISBN 0-8131-1492-6..
- Allen, Daniel The Sky Above, The Kingdom Below. London, Haus, 2008. ISBN 1-905791-30-5
- Chaney, Edward, "Thomas Coryate", The Grove-Macmillan Dictionary of Art.
- Chaney, Edward, The Evolution of the Grand Tour, 2nd ed, Routledge, London, 2000. ISBN 0-7146-4474-9
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 211.
- Moraes, Dom and Sarayu Srivatsa. The Long Strider : How Thomas Coryate Walked From England to India in the Year 1613. New Delhi: Penguin, 2003. ISBN 0-670-04975-1.
- Moore, Tim The Grand Tour, St. Martin's Press, New York, 2001. ISBN 0-312-28156-0
- Penrose, Boies. Urbane Travelers: 1591–1635. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1942. LCCN 42-019537.
- Petroski, Henry (1992), The evolution of useful things, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 978-0-6797-4039-1
- Pritchard, R.E. Odd Tom Coryate: The English Marco Polo. Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton, 2004. ISBN 0-7509-3416-6.
- Strachan, Michael. The Life and Adventures of Thomas Coryate. London: Oxford UP, 1962. LCCN 62-052512.
- Whittaker, David (ed.) Most Glorious & Peerless Venice: Observations of Thomas Coryate (1608). Wavestone Press, Charlbury, 2013. 978-09545194-7-6 (Contains the Venice section of the 'Crudities', with photographs by the editor.)