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| Archive Reference / Library Class No. | D258/50/6 |
| Title | Personal letter from Sir William Gell to Philip Gell from Saxe Weimar |
| Description | The accounts Philip hears of Germany are almost invariably false. `The country is wretched in a extreme of which no Englishman or Scot can have a idea ....... The brilliance of courts is a mere invention'. There are no carpets in Germany, a circumstance of which Gell `dies daily'. Everyone speaks French; it ruins Gell's teeth to speak German [inserts sketch of broken teeth]. `The men stink of old tobacco'. A gentleman named Mellish asks to be remembered to his aunts. Gell asks Philip to make the Admiral understand that he is not over-spending, but taking his allowance in advance. Parish [banker] has no correspondents at Smyma or in Constantinople, so Gell will have to take cash. His Venetian banker will give him credit in Turkey. Intends to go to Palermo, Lyons or Naples after Greece. At Saxe Weimar court, Gell is always in boots with silver spurs and blue pantaloons - `very dashing'. 29 Jan 1801
He is to take his leave on Sunday and make little bows [inserts sketch of him doing so]. `The D.......ss has swallowed a most stiff poker'. Gell could not write earlier because he had burnt the ends of his two pen fingers. He had enlisted a fourth young Englishman who was with Mounia here and `has the ready in plenty'. With the latter's servant they will be five strong, therefore the whole party will be the equivalent of 45 Turks, `quite sufficient for a coasting voyage'. Monday next Gell will set out for Dresden via Leipzig; from there to Prague and Vienna and on to Venice. However, he may take the other route Ratisbon-Munich-Trent-Verona-Venice which he would prefer because it is largely French territory. Gell is surprised sledges are not used in England where there is twice as much snow as in Germany |
| Level | Item |
| Repository | Derbyshire Record Office |
| Archive Creator | Gell family of Hopton Hall, Wirksworth |
| Copies | A digital copy of this item can be viewed on the public computers at the record office. |
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