The Naples Riviera

Churches, museum galleries and busy streets introduce Herbert M. Vaughan's account of Naples and the coast beyond it. First published in 1907, this travel book turns from the changing city to the shores and islands of its Riviera, connecting landscape with art, antiquities and the region's past. Its chapters cover Vesuvius, Pompeii, Amalfi, Ravello, Salerno, Paestum, Sorrento, Capri and Ischia, with twenty-five colour illustrations by Maurice Greiffenhagen.

At Ravello, Vaughan describes a hotel built within an old bishop's residence, a stairway leading to its former chapel and a terrace overlooking the Bay of Salerno. Lemon trees, vineyards and glimpses of coastal towns share the scene with reflections on the former maritime republic of Amalfi. Readers interested in historical travel writing can follow the way he places local buildings and daily impressions beside memories of earlier centuries, while observing the preferences and judgments of a visitor from his period.