Moore, John. The Travel Writings of John Moore. Vol. 2: A View of Society and Manners in Italy (1781). Ed. Ben P. Robertson. London: Pickering & Chatto, 2014.



The Travel Writings of John Moore is a four-volume set that reprints the late-eighteenth-century travel writings of Scottish physician John Moore, who lived from 1729 to 1802. The edition provides a general introduction, four volume introductions, and textual and explanatory notes. A chronology of Moore's life appears in Volume 1, and Volume 4 includes an index for all four volumes. The edition also reproduces eight contemporary images of Moore that are held at the Wellcome Library in London and at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.

Volume 2: A View of Society and Manners in Italy (1781)

Volume 2 continues Moore’s account of his travels with the Duke of Hamilton, focusing on their adventures in Italy. Throughout the narrative, Moore continues his descriptions of the customs and people he encounters, adding his own witty reflections from the viewpoint of a foreigner. Unimpressed by Catholicism, he presents wry descriptions of priests and religious relics through the countryside. In Naples, he narrates ‘the famous Neapolitan miracle’ of the liquefaction of dried blood said to have been collected from St. Januarius at the saint’s beheading. Moore reports that when the miracle does not manifest, the presiding prelates deceive the crowd in the interests of preserving harmony in the community – not to mention their own reputations. Also included is Moore’s description of the government of the Venetian Republic and his own experiences at the Vatican during the investiture of Pope Pius VI, with whom he and the duke later had a personal audience.

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