Visits to Monasteries in the Levant

An evening among old manuscripts leads Robert Curzon to recall the places where he collected them. Admiring their vellum leaves and painted pages, he begins an account of monastery visits and the difficulties of finding ancient books. His travel writing moves through Egypt and the Levant, with chapters on the Nile, Coptic monasteries, Jerusalem and Meteora. Libraries, church buildings and encounters with monks give the account its particular focus.

The search for manuscripts also brings descriptions of desert landscapes, religious customs and the practical business of travel. Curzon records both the attraction of these places and distressing experiences, including a fatal crowd crush during a pilgrimage gathering in Jerusalem. His observations combine curiosity about old books with personal reactions to the people around him. Readers interested in manuscript collecting or nineteenth-century religious travel will find details of libraries and worship, viewed through one visitor's assumptions and judgments.