Taylor on Littlewood
Charles Taylor reviews Ian Littlewood's Sultry Climates: Travel & Sex.
Littlewood's subject is the Grand Tour, the tradition that began in the 18th century of yearlong Continental sojourns undertaken by young Englishmen as part of their education and seasoning. The official accounts have stressed the Anglo traveler being introduced to foreign customs, foods, manners. And maybe because sex -- or, more to the point, pleasure -- was (and is) thought too frivolous a subject for serious intellectual consideration, the sexual pursuits of these English travelers have been relegated to journals and letters while art and culture take preeminence in the histories and guidebooks. Drawing on those journals, Littlewood has attempted to rectify the imbalance.
