12, Hertford-street, Mayfair, W., | February 18th, 1859.
My dear Sir,—
Having, as I informed you in my last note,2 communicated with the Sardinian Minister Plenipotentiary3 the day after receiving your statement relative to the guides at Chamouni,4 I have been favoured by replies from the Minister, of the 4th and 17th February. In the first the Marquis d’Azeglio assures me that he will bring the subject before the competent authorities at Turin,5 accompanying the transmission ‘d’une récommendation toute spécial.’6 In the second letter the Marquis informs me that ‘the preparation of new regulations for the guides at Chamouni had for some time occupied the attention of the Minister of the Interior,7 and that these regulations8 will be in rigorous operation, in all probability, at the commencement of the approaching summer.’ The Marquis adds that, ‘as the regulations will be based upon a principle of much greater liberty, he has every reason to believe that they will satisfy all the desires of travellers in the interests of science.’
With much pleasure at the opportunity of having been in any degree able to bring about the fulfilment of your wishes on the subject,
I remain, my dear Sir, | Faithfully yours, | RICHARD OWEN. | Pres. Brit. Association.
Prof. Tyndall, F.R.S.
Glaciers of the Alps, pp. 193–4
Richard Owen: see letter 1330, n. 5.
my last note: letter missing.
Sardinian Minister Plenipotentiary: Massimo Taparelli d’Azeglio (1798–1866), an Italian statesman and novelist. He served as Prime Minister of Sardinia from 1849–52. See A. Ferrabino (ed.), Dizionario Biografico Degli Italiani (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1962), vol. 4, pp. 746–52.
Chamouni: see letter 1551, and 1566, n. 18.
Turin: a city in northern Italy.
‘d’une récommendation toute spécial’: of a special recommendation (French).
Minister of the Interior: Urbano Rattazzi (1808–73) served as minister of the interior for the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont from 1854–8 and 1859–60. See F. Gallo (ed.), Dizionario Biografico Degli Italiani (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 2005), vol. 86, pp. 558–62.
these regulations: various editions of John Murray’s Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont show the changes to the regulations of Chamouni guides. The 8th edition (1858) stated that the guide chef assigned guides based on a rotation called the ‘tour de rôle’, and that guides who went out of turn were fined. ‘This arrangement is certainly calculated to repress emulation amongst the guides, and great complaints are made of it by those who wish to make expeditions into the High Alps’ (A Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont, 8th edn [London: John Murray, 1858], p. 347). The 9th edition (1861) stated that new regulations removing these restrictions were established in 1859 by the King of Sardinia ‘on the application of the Alpine Club, and some eminent scientific men’. The regulations were, however, re-established after Savoy was annexed to France in 1860 (A Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont, 9th edn [London: John Murray, 1861], p. 386). The 11th edition (1865) stated that travellers were again permitted to select ‘their own guides if | 1. They desire to undertake “extraordinary” expeditions. | 2. If engaged in scientific pursuits. | 3. If they do not know French, and require a guide to speak a language they know. | 4. If they desire to re-engage a guide they have had in former years. | 5. Ladies, unaccompanied by a gentleman. | Members of the Alpine Club, and those who can give evidence of having frequently made expeditions in the high Alps, are exempt from restrictions of the tour de rôle, and also the number of guides they take with them’ (A Handbook for Travellers in Switzerland and the Alps of Savoy and Piedmont, 11th edn [London: John Murray, 1865], p. 396).
Please cite as “Tyndall1590,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on