| Admin/Biog History | From June-August 1929, approximately a year before he graduated from Christ Church, Oxford, Waterfield undertook what appears to have been an educational sightseeing trip in France. References in the journal indicate that the he travelled by car. |
| Description | In this journal of c 117 pages, inscribed 'Tour in France, June-July-Aug: 1929', Waterfield records a tour of France. The journal is complete and most of the entries are headed with place names and concern short stays or visits to different locations, with each entry usually covering several pages. The first entry is undated but the last entry is dated 27 September 1929. The journal includes descriptions of architectural sights including churches, cathedrals, chateaux and gardens, as well as works of art. It also includes two broader texts: an eight-page introduction in which Waterfield makes a critical comparison between England and France and their respective values and approaches to culture; and an exploratory text of c ten pages situated between entries on Albi and Béziers that brings together his thoughts on aesthetics and the distinction between the fine and applied arts (particularly in view of the machine age) as well as the comparative qualities of Science and Art.
Waterfield visited the following places in France:
-Dijon
-Avallon
-Vezelay
-Autun
-Nevers
-Bourges
-Poitiers
-Royan
-Angoulême
-Chambord
-Amboise
-Blois
-Tours
-Chenonceaux
-Loches
-Chinon
-Langeais
-Luynes
-Beaugency
-Argenton
-Limoges
-Solignac
-Brive [-la-Gaillande]
-Cahors
-Albi
-Béziers
-Nîmes
-Arles
The journal is annotated throughout in pencil by a different hand, with mainly critical or explanatory remarks. A note on the endpaper, signed 'F.W. Scholiast and Pedant', indicates these were written by Waterfield's father, Derick Waterfield (full first name of Frederick). Some of the remarks suggest that Waterfield was accompanied for at least part of the tour by his father.
Related material can be found in DHW/2/1 - Sketchbooks: France: 1929. |