Baedeker and Other Guidebooks from Shapero Rare Books

Shapero Rare Books has issued their latest selection of Baedeker, Murray and Other Guidebooks, Winter 2023. These were guidebooks meant for tourists and other travelers. Mostly, they were for people off to visit foreign lands, though some of the Murray guides were very local to Britain, limited to specific counties for British travelers staying in their home country. The Baedeker guides primarily covered continental Europe, though there were occasional editions for faraway places, such as North America, Russia, the Holy Land and India. These guides are obviously favorites of collectors as this is at least the sixth such catalogue published by Shapero. They are great for collectors who like travel as the titles of the guides and editions (most were published in numerous editions) are readily knowable, so understanding what is needed to complete a set can easily be determined. You just have to fill in the missing pieces. Here are a few samples of the guides Shapero is offering.

The Baedeker family of Germany had been in the printing business since the turn of the 18^th century but it would not be until the next century that Karl Baedeker would find a new use for their press – travel guides. He took over an existing business and in 1832 began publishing guides under the Baedeker name. Most of the early guides were in German, meant for German tourists traveling at home and abroad. With one exception in 1832, he would not print another guide in French until 1846 and finally one in English in 1861. This is a copy of that first English Baedeker, Germany. Rhine from Switzerland to Holland. This was the first of 19 editions of this title to be published, the last coming in 1926. It covers northern Germany with a side excursion to Copenhagen. It contains 12 engraved scenic views, as used in the earliest Baedekers, along with 243 maps and plans. Item 55. Priced at £4,000 (British pounds or approximately $5,106 in U.S. dollars).

Aside from the 1832 first, this was what some consider the first true (original material) French Baedeker. The first was simply a translation but this title included new material. The title is Rhin de Bale a Dusseldorf (Rhine from Basel to Dusseldorf), published in 1846. This was intended for French speakers visiting Germany rather than the other way around. It used a distinctive pictorial yellow binding featuring cover images of local architecture. Item 112. £2,500 (US $3,192).

While Baedeker was printing guides for Germans and then the French, John Murray was publishing guides for the British. He published guides for British travelers, but also many for internal travel, with numerous guides targeted to specific English counties. This next book is a Murray guide, Handbook for Travelers on the Continent, published in 1856. Murray made use of information he found in Baedeker guides for his European editions though they would not have been much help in compiling data for his own homeland. By 1856, Murray was already to his eleventh edition of his continental guide. Maps include Berlin, Dresden, Amsterdam and Cologne. This copy is a special one as it has been inscribed by Murray on the half title. Item 214. £500 (US $635).

It took a while, but Baedeker finally published his first English guidebook to the United States in 1893. This was the first guide originally written in English. It was written by J. F. Muirhead, Baedeker's English editor. He spent three years in America to prepare for this guide. Muirhead worked for Baedeker for 35 years, but after the outbreak of the First World War pitting England against Germany, that was no longer possible. Muirhead took over the Murray guides at that time and published them under the name “Blue Guides.” This guide is titled United States with an Excursion to Mexico. The guide includes 17 maps. Item 106. £500 (US $648).

Muirhead and Baedeker would take travelers over the U.S. northern border a year later. This next guide is Canada with Newfoundland and an Excursion to Alaska. Interestingly, the Canadian guides were written only in English. Perhaps Canada is not a favorite tourist spot for Germans. This first edition was published in 1894. Only four editions on Canada were published, the final one coming in 1922. The first edition contains 10 maps and 7 plans. Item 12. £350 (US $444).

The Baedeker guides had to survive two world wars, difficult since they were publishing English and French editions, whose people had just come out of war with Germany. Still, the Baedeker family continued publishing their guides until 1984, when, running out of heirs to keep the business going, they sold it to corporate interests. This next one is Berlin, the seventh edition but first after the Second World War, though it came out in 1965, twenty years after the war ended. Westerners may not have been in a rush to go to Berlin, and by then, it had been divided into East and West Berlin, Russian vs. English/American/French zones. It has 26 maps and plans with 128 sketches. Item 40. £50 (US $63).

Shapero Rare Books may be reached at +44 (0)20 7493 0876 or rarebooks@shapero.com. Their website is www.shapero.com.