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The Mediterranean of Louis XV 267
he was interested in both contemplating the ‘tableaux’ made on
the mind and, like Chabert, in determining the mathematical
relationship of sites in order to correct: ‘quelques erreurs de
géographie’ (Fig. 10.10). Choiseul-Gouffier’s conception of the
published travel account was to communicate simultaneously to
his reader’s imagination and reason, demonstrating that experience
was the product of changing points of view and changing
states of mind. The centrality of motion to the experience of
travel was captured by his description of sailing through the
Aegean Sea: ‘Je ne puis encore, même plusieurs années après,
me retracer sans émotion mes courses sur cette Mer semée
d’îles, dont les tableaux délicieux varient sans cesse pour le
Navigateur.’ 50
50 Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage Pittoresque de la Grèce (Paris, 1782), i. p. i.