The Rhine

This work, composed of “Letters to a Friend,” is the story of a merry archaeological journey. The form is a familar one, but it displays remarkable erudition. It is the chat of a witty savant who takes us from Aix-la-Chapelle to Cologne, and from Mainz to Frankfort, visiting all the monuments, recounting legends of towns, castles and hamlets, allowing himself to wander off into philosophic digressions, to indulge in picturesque recitals filled with incidents and surprises, and interspersed with serious or comic reflections. There are also prophetic pages in this book, and one cannot too much meditate upon some of the affirmations of Victor Hugo.