(20) Chapter I.

Travelogue and tears attend the hero’s welcome awaiting Lord Raymond, still a prisoner of war as Volume 2 begins.

Travel Poster, Dick Negus & Philip Sharland, 1952

Mary Shelley was an active and well-known travel writer, and many places she visited find their way into The Last Man. But now comes a string of chapters whose settings she knew only from books, letters, reportage, sketches and paintings. It’s clear she relishes the challenge. Her view of Athens from the sea might a little fanciful, but is very fine. The sight today-ish:

And here, offering many echoes from the novel, is the city during wartime, as Athenians welcome the Allied Forces as liberators in November 1944 (via Internet Archive):

Please add your thoughts: