| Description | Notebook diary of George White R.N., covering his voyages and explorations around the Mediterranean in the period between September 1829 and June 1830. Inside the front cover is written 'Copy' and 'No.3' although this is the second in the set of six diaries held in our collection. The events described in the diary include sailing through the Straits of Gibraltar (7 October 1829), several pages devoted to descriptions of Malta, including churches and libraries, altarpieces and artwork (21 October 1829), landing at Napoli (Nauplia) the then-capital of Greece (25 November 1829) and Aegina (29 November 1829) with detailed account of his expedition to the ruined Temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, with its legends and description (4 December 1829), visits to Smyrna and Parikia, the capital of the Greek island of Paros (December 1829) where he found the famous bas-relief of the Festival of Silenus and other antiquities (9, 15 January 1830), plus visits to Malta (April and June 1830), Sardinia (May 1830) and Sicily (July 1830) where he describes in detail Agrigento Cathedral, 'fire-vomiting Etna' and the Landolina Venus in the museum at Syracuse. |