… that travel guides as we know them were first published in the mid-19th century? This is a relatively recent phenomena considering that people, especially young men of means, had been traveling for pleasure for about a hundred years? The continental Grand Tour had become a must for an English gentleman’s cultural and social education in the 18th century. But, by 1832, the Napoleonic Wars had finally come to an end, the steam engine transformed transportation and the industrial revolution gave rise to a large middle class in Europe as well as America. And this middle class now had the means, the time and the inclination to see a bit o’ the world.
As often happens with innovations, the modern guidebook was invented simultaneously by two men of different nationalities. Karl Baedeker published four German-language titles in 1835 while England saw the publication of John Murray’s Hanbook for Travellers just a year later. This was the first time that ojective, impersonal books were published on travel. Up to then, travel guides had been written, but they combined facts with opinions and sentimental observations.
The Baedeker and Murray books became extremely successful and were relied upon by travelers well into the 20th century. Not surprisingly, others capitalized on the industry and it wasn’t long before several British and European publishing houses put out their own travel guide, Thomas Cook - in the travel business to this day - being among them.
These early travel guides, though enormously popular, still catered to the well heeled, the nouveaux riches. It was an enterprising American dry goods merchant turned bookseller named Daniel Appleton who hit upon the idea of creating a more democratic guide - one for the common man and his family. His comprehensive New and Complete United States Guide Book for Travellers was first published in 1850. Appleton guides were frequently updated - sometimes as often as several times a year - and included city plans, maps and advertisements for hotels which catered to families.
The turn of the 20th century saw the publication of the classic Michelin Guides, but again, it was an American travel writer (born in Hungary), Eugene Fodor, who “kept it real” beginning in the 1930s. Fodor realized that guidebooks focused too much on history and not enough on popular culture. The Introduction to his On the Continent, states that: “We have proceeded on the assumption that your thirst for historical knowledge is nothing like your thirst for the beer of Pilsen or the slivovitsa of Belgrade.” Nothing’ like a little slivovitsa.
Fodor’s books were followed by Frommer’s. Arthur Frommer, an attorney in the U.S. Army stationed in Europe during the Korean Warr, capitalized on his experiences abroad by creating, in 1957, a travel guide for American GIs titled Europe on $5 A Day. The book’s popularity inspired him to follow it up with a civilian version. Both authors’ guidebooks served as the springboards for extensive series, eventually covering destinations around the world. Since then, the number of travel guides have proliferated immensely both in print and digitally and today, there’s no dearth of choice. Series such as Let’s Go, Lonely Planet, Insight Guides and Rough Guides among many others, offer information to suit virtually every travel taste, requirement and desire.
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