A Journey to Rome

A Young Carpenter from Bruges

This work is a handwritten account of the journey to Rome made by Josephus Verplancke. He was a carpenter in Bruges. The report starts on April 15th, 1738. The book is beautifully decorated with lava drawings illustrating the different stages of the journey and some remarkable buildings. The report is written in order to be useful to other pilgrims. However it was never published. The style and stiff language suggest that the carpenter himself is at work. Gezelle has actively used the work. He underlined many passages in the eighteenth-century manuscript. He integrated excerpts from the report in his linguistic magazine Loquela from 1888.

Reyse naer Roome [...] weten den vertreckende pelgrim, den stilstaenden pelgrim ende den wederkerenden pelgrim, Josephus Jacobus Verplancke, 1738. Handgeschreven verslag van pelgrimstocht naar Rome.

(A Journey to Rome…, by Josephus Jacobus Verplancke, 1738. A handwritten account of a pilgrimage to Rome.)