Welcome to Henry's Travel Blog!
Although he kept detailed business papers, Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw left little personal material for biographers to consider in analyzing his life. One of the few items which remain is a series of five journals. Following his retirement from the hardware business in 1840, Shaw traveled abroad and made notes, recollections, and even sketches in these small bound books. Join us as we chart Henry's journey to Europe and beyond.
 
Shaw's variable spellings, punctuation, and grammar, preserved throughout, are typical even for well-educated gentlemen in the 19th Century. Important note (4/14/09): The entries from March 11, 2009 through April 8, 2009, correspond to recently discovered text from Henry Shaw's journal. They will be posted online under the correct dates to preserve chronological accuracy.
 
   
   

Posted Online Monday, December 14, 2009

March 26, 1842: Musee d'Artillerie

The best collection of arms of the different epochs that I have yet seen is at the Musee d'Artillerie. The arquebus of the middle ages, succeeded by the matchlock of the time of Louis XIII & XIV. Guns of all manner of fashions ancient and modern and of every country, particularly a gun and pistols made for the emperor of Morocco. Mounted in gold and enriched with precious stones, the most magnificent imaginable.

Only spent an hour and a half in the musee left with a determination of a future visit. From hence took a citadine for the Gobelins royal tapestry manufacturer, founded in 1450 by Gobelin and became a government establishment in the reign of Louis 14th. The workshops are large and a great number of workmen employed, mostly from the cartoons of Raphael. Four men employed on the draft of the fishes told me it wou1d require two years to finish it. In the lie evening at the Italian opera, Mad Grises fine voice and acting talents displayed to great advantage in the Nouna