Tombleson’s Upper Rhine

William Tombleson (artist) & William Gray Fearnside (editor): “Tombleson’s Upper Rhine” (London: Tombleson & Co, 1832)

Acquired in 2026

Published in 1832, “Tombleson’s Upper Rhine” belongs to the tradition of picturesque travel literature that flourished during the nineteenth century. Created by the English artist William Tombleson (1795–1846), the work contains a lively description of the Upper Rhine region embellished by steel engravings of sixty-nine of its towns, castles, landscapes, bridges, and historical monuments.

Picking up after an earlier volume that covered Cologne to Mainz, this book continues from Koblenz “to regions where man assumes another character, and Nature appears in brighter garb” journeying southward to Basel, then onward to Schaffhausen along what is now differentiated as the High Rhine, to Lake Constance, and finally towards the river’s alpine sources. In doing so, Tombleson presents the Rhine not merely as a waterway, but as a cultural landscape connecting diverse geographies, communities, and historical traditions.

Beyond its appeal as a travel book, it is an important visual record of a landscape on the threshold of profound change. The steel engravings capture the Rhine and its surrounding settlements before the large-scale industrialisation, river engineering projects, and transport infrastructure of the later nineteenth century that transformed much of the region. As such, the work offers valuable evidence of the appearance of towns, riverbanks, fortifications, and rural landscapes that have since been altered or disappeared altogether.

Yet without the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom the book may not have been printed at all. The revolution had brought prosperity to a new industrial middle class who for the first time had wealth enough to travel for pleasure, beforehand a preserve of the wealthy aristocracy. The Rhine became one of Europe’s most fashionable travel destinations, and so the book catered to the growing interest of travellers eager to go and experience its romantic scenery and cultural heritage for themselves.

The book fits naturally within the collecting profile of the Iron Library. Travel literature has been an established component of the holdings since the founding: the history of technology and science is also a history of geographic exploration, cultural exchange, and the documentation of landscapes shaped by human activity. Tombleson’s work complements the established collection by offering an exceptionally rich visual and textual account of one of Europe’s most significant river corridors from a lighter tourist perspective.

Until 1836, the Paradies Monastery was still a working convent and Tombleson no doubt passed by during his book research travels. While it does not feature in his writings, he would very likely have included it in an updated edition today. The Rhine is central to the history and identity of the Iron Library’s location and tourism now plays a strong role. From the successful opening of the Hotel and Restaurant 1802 earlier this year, to the library’s open guided tour every Thursday at 2pm, visitors continue to be drawn by the same combination of scenery, heritage, and atmosphere that captivated nineteenth-century travellers.