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Title Giambattista Scandella. Series I Journals, No. 2
Author Scandella, Giambattista
Date c.1797-1798
Document Type Personal Account
Reference MSS 101, Series 1, Folder 2
Library / Archive Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Collection Name Giambattista Scandella Papers, 1787-1798
Description Journal of his time in Virginia. Mentions Mouche, a French doctor, as well as watching a poor migrant family and their cart travelling down the road. Muses about the inequalities of people of different coloured skin. Notes different flora in Virginia, including watercolour sketches of a woodland rose. Also mentions the cultivation of tobacco in Virginia and the effect of the war on this commodity, and the effect the climate has on the people of this state. Discusses how American cities are sprouting up like mushrooms in a wood. Describes writing melancholic letters to friends and relative in Italy, and reading newspaper reports of events back home.
Series Description The collection includes a diary and commonplace books containing impressions of America, and medical case records. Journal and commonplace books are both rich in detailed observations about the United States at the end of the 18th century. Scandella's comments touch on a broad range of topics, such as Quakers, race relations, U.S. political culture and system, physical features of the land, Americans' character, and U.S. foreign relations. His notes also discuss a number of prominent Americans he met or befriended, including Washington, Jefferson, and Benjamin Latrobe. Journals and commonplace books include a few American newspaper clippings, which lack citations. The commonplace books also include small drawings of things he observed, such as farm equipment or dams, as well as margin doodles.
Biographical Note / History Scandella was born in Italy and was educated as a physician. He came to America c.1796 and settled in Philadelphia in 1797.
Theme(s) Politics, Legislation and Governance; Onward Travel; Journey Conditions
Places Winchester, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Red Springs, North Carolina, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; Yorkshire, United Kingdom; France
Nationality Italian; English; American; French
Keywords travel, geography, trade, slavery, weather, politics, agriculture, tobacco, alcohol, economics, commerce, gambling
Additional Information Please note: Some of the metadata for this document has been taken from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania catalogue.
Language Italian
Copyright Historical Society of Pennsylvania