Since the 5th of July this year, the new travel blog My Trip Abroad is bringing to life the 1928 handwritten journal of the late actor Vincent Price, which details the then 17-year-old St Louis teenager’s first-ever trip to Europe.
The blue leather pocket-sized journal was purchased from the Vincent Price estate by UK-based journalist Peter Fuller, who has created the blog, with the approval of the Vincent Price estate, in a bid to share the journal with Price fans around the world.
Vincent traveled across from New York to Southampton on the HRMS Caronia on 5 July 1928 and returned on the HRMS Tuscania on 26 August 1928. Already an art lover as a teenager, Vincent traveled alone with a tour group to see art and included in this journal are the young Vincent’s responses to seeing for the first time masterpieces as Rembrandt’s Night Watch. The tour was also a taster for the great cities and sights of Europe including London, Amsterdam, German’s Rhine Valley, Switzerland, Rome and Pompeii, the World War I battlefields of France, and the jazz bars of Paris.
Taking the form of a real-time travel blog, the editor has transcribed Vincent Price’s journal as he wrote it; and included photos and postcards of the period, as well as notes about the places that Vincent visits, to create a window on Europe circa 1928, making this not only of interest to fans, but a living history lesson.
Price wrote two days at a time in the journal, so new blog posts appear every two days, beginning 5 July 2013 and ending 26 August 2013. The blog is now up and running and has already been given some glowing comments.
‘I am so grateful that Peter has created this website to share this momentous experience in my father’s life with his fans and with art lovers who may not know the true passion Vincent had for the arts from a very young age! I think you will find reading this journal a wonderful journey yourself.’ Victoria Price
‘An extraordinary record, so telling, and quite quite charming. How it brings that happy 17-year-old to joyous life! Your annotations are the icing on the cake, really making the period come alive as we walk alongside Vinnie. Just wonderful. Can’t wait for the next entry!’
Lucy Chase Williams, author of The Complete Films of Vincent Price
‘Thank you Peter for sharing this incredible work!’
Vincent Price Art Museum
‘To all: this is a truly monumental thing! Peter has created a fully annotated online resource that reveals the defining moment in Price’s life, his trip through the cities of Europe. I cannot recommend it enough!’
The Vincent Price Exhibit
The official link is: https://vincentpricejournal.wordpress.com/
