SHELLEY (Percy Bysshe and Mary Doldwin). History of a six weeks tour through a part of France, Switzerland, germany, and Holland. London, T. Hookham, 1817. In-8°, antique hardback, untrimmed, spine rebacked, endpapers renewed. Very rare first edition (without author's name) of the journey to France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland made in 1814, followed by the letters written during their 3-month stay in the summer of 1816 in the vicinity of Geneva. The book ends with "Mont Blanc", the famous poem written by Percy during the 1816 trip. It is in their letters (which take up about half the book) that we find the most interesting elements of the authors' forays into the Alps and particularly the Chamonix valley. Scattered soiling and foxing. Percy Bysshe Shelley (Sussex 1792 - La Spezia 1822), one of the greatest English Romantic writers, accompanied Byron on his voyage around Lake Geneva in 1816. That year he stayed in the Alps, visiting the Chamonix valley where he wrote a magnificent poem about Mont Blanc. Exiled to Italy as a result of his amorous escapades and political stance, he died at the age of 30 when his sailing boat sank. His second wife, Mary Godwin Shelley (London 1797- 1851), was the author of the famous Frankenstein, published in London in 1818. Mary had accompanied her husband to Chamonix and, deeply impressed by the discovery herself, she allowed her hero to find relative peace on the banks of the Arveyron (chapter X). Perret, 4037 - Regards sur les Alpes 38 - Meckly 175 - Coolidge 91 - Not in ACL nor in CAS