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Jan Palmowski
similar origins, and in their erudite comprehensiveness were aimed at the same
market. The differences between them were, however, unmistakable. The Baedeker
was more compact, and much more sombre in its descriptions. In the same way
that the Baedeker’s German heritage was evident, the Murray was a book written
by the British, for the British. Where Baedeker made its point with a brief quotation
from Goethe, Murray retaliated with long passages from the English romantics,
and Byron in particular. 18 Murray introduced the Bernese Oberland as the land of
Tennyson and Byron, and proceeded to illustrate every sight with the appropriate
quotation from “Manfred” or similar sources. Moving on to Chillon, the son of
Byron’s publisher referred to the “Prisoner of Chillon” for two pages. The Baedeker,
by contrast, introduced the Oberland much less exuberantly, commencing its
account with a warning precisely against the tourist trappings which Murray’s
tourists attracted (endless offerings of crystals, pistol shots to test the echo, yodeling,
and the like). Baedeker could not avoid Byron in Chillon, but was nevertheless
much briefer on the castle and its history. 19 Over the years, in its new editions
Murray adopted a more sombre and factual style, but the differences between the
two guidebooks remained unmistakable throughout.
More revealing is a comparison of the guidebooks’ descriptions of sites
intrinsically unrelated to romanticism. A random, if telling, example involves a
comparison of the guidebooks’ descriptions of Interlaken. This town evoked mixed
emotions in most guidebooks, since it was at once beautiful and overrun with
tourists and amusements. This ambiguity is clear in Murray’s guide, which noted
the contrast between Interlaken’s bustling promenades and the sublimity of its
surrounding Alpine panorama. Still, Murray advised that Interlaken “must not
be disparaged”; it was a good, cheap base for tours in the surrounding Oberland,
and afforded good views over the Alps. The Baedeker, by contrast, was positive
without reservation, praising Interlaken as a “point of attraction to visitors from
all parts of Europe.” It recommended the town not just because of the surrounding
countryside, but as a resting place in itself. 20 It was not the case, therefore, that
Baedeker was always more critical than Murray. Both were full of practical advice,
but whereas both guidebooks carried out their agenda to determine “what ought
to be seen,” Murray went a step further, showing more clearly not just what ought
to be seen, but how it should be appreciated.
As more people traveled to Switzerland, guidebooks became more diverse. 21
In the 1860s, John Ball, the founding president of the Alpine Club, published his
Alpine Guide in three volumes. In trying to appeal to a more “elevated” market
“serious” about the Alps, it contained detailed descriptions of walks and paths, and
included signed descriptions and recommendations by members of the Alpine
Club, among them Leslie Stephen. With its clientele in mind, the guide despaired,
for instance, at the average Interlaken visitors “incapable of deriving deep and
continuous enjoyment from the sublime objects that surround them.” 22 The other
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