Autograph letter signed by historian Edward Augustus Freeman dated 1883

FREEMAN, Edward Augustus (1823-1892). Autograph letter signed during a tour through central France, with references to Clermont, Le Puy, Rouen and ecclesiastical architecture. Bourges, 31 October 1883.
 
4 pp., bifolium, written in ink on 3 sides, c. 210 x 130 mm. Old folds; light handling wear; residue on last side from mounting; very good.
 
A travel letter written from Bourges during Freeman’s return journey through France with his wife and daughters. The historian describes returning from Clermont and Le Puy, noting that “Besides churches & former volcanoes, we have had two or three days most perfect weather”, before continuing to Rouen. The letter closes with a characteristically Freeman-like architectural observation concerning the French metropolitan churches and their transepts.
 
Edward Augustus Freeman (1823-1892), historian and architectural scholar, was among the leading Victorian authorities on Norman, medieval and ecclesiastical history, best known for his History of the Norman Conquest. His writings on church architecture and medieval Europe made him one of the defining historical voices of the later 19th century.