James Fenimore Cooper

Milan was Cooper’s first destination in Italy, and also his shortest stay. The history of Milan is visible to the eye, as old stone streets, brick walls covered in ivy, and railways laid out for carriages are all over the city. Cooper notes that military patrols the street all day trying to keep the city safe. People from outside the city, typically small towns outside the Alps, will often come in and set up small street markets to sell to the locals or travelers like Cooper.

“The streets of Milan have lines of flat stones, a sort of railways, laid for the carriage wheels; the celebrated Corso having two tracks, in order that the vehicles may not intersect each other. The town walls are of bricks, and a good deal covered with ivy” (Excursions in Italy, p. 2)

“Military patroles march the street at night, and all night, so that the place is orderly and safe.” (Excursions in Italy, p. 3)

As Cooper entered Florence, he was instantly amazed by the size and beauty of the cathedral, and how it towered over the rest of the city. He calls Florence a noble city that still retained much of its ancient wealth. He is also amazed by the fact that Florence can still be a central trade spot, despite not being connected to any ports or rivers. Cooper says the people of Florence are full of life and joy, and that these are the type of people he would like to live among.

“We became fully impressed with the changes that time produces, not only in things, but in the moral aspect of the world, by seeing a town like Florence. In our age, the man who should dream of making an inland place, in the heart of the Apennines, the focus of trade, would be set down as a simpleton; nor could any powers of combination or of wealth now overcome the efforts of those who would naturally resort to more favorable positions.” (Excursions in Italy, p. 38)

As a whole, Cooper seems to be unimpressed with Pisa. He says it does not appear to live up to the fame of its former status as an important city. Most of the city is dull and relatively empty given its size. Cooper says the main attractions of Pisa are all cramped into a single corner of the city plaza where there is the cathedral and the leaning tower. Overall, Pisa appears to have shrunk from its ancient dimensions.

“Pisa is a place to be seen, for it was once of note, and has curious remains of its former power. The town, notwithstanding, is dull and half-depopulated, noble houses being to be had for prices almost nominal. The chief interest of Pisa is concentrated in a single corner, where the cathedral, the baptistery, the Campo Santo, and the leaning tower are all to be found within a few feet of each other. (Excursions in Italy, p. 60)

Genoa, itself, is naturally by hills and mountains on one side, and a bay on the other. Many of the houses and buildings actually stand on cliffs, and often receive a spraying of mist when the bay hits the rocks. He illustrates that the views of inland Genoa resemble that from a Da Vinci painting. Cooper says that this natural beauty combined with the constant movement of goods and transportation from the port makes Genoa truly amazing. 

“Genoa lies at the base of a hill, around the head of a large cove, which has been converted into a fine harbour by means of two moles. One quarter of the town actually stands on low cliffs that are washed by the sea, which must sometimes throw its spray into the streets.” (Excursions in Italy, p. 110)

“I scarcely remember a scene of more peculiar wildness blended with beauty, then some of these glimpse offered” (Excursions in Italy, p. 112)

Going into his journey, people had told Cooper that the Bay of Naples was much like the New York harbor. Upon immediate arrival to Naples, Cooper immediately shuts down this myth. He says it would be completely unfair to Naples to even put it in the same conversation as New York City when it comes to natural beauty. With this beauty, Cooper says, comes a youthfulness and happiness of its people. He says the people of Naples are out all day interacting as a community and for one another, something that is not very common in America, and Cooper attributes this to the beauty of the area.

“No one would think of applying the term pretty, or even handsome, to the Bay of Naples; it has glorious and sublime scenery, embellished by a bewitching softness.” (Excursions in Italy, p. 202)

“One is condensed, the houses clinging, in places, to rocky cliffs, some of the streets actually lying a hundred or two feet above their immediate neighbours; while the other  is straggling, and has a surface shaved down nearly to a water level. One is overflowing with population; the other, properly peopled, would contain five times its present numbers. One is all commerce, shipping, drays, and stevedores, the particles of taste and beauty existing in the fragments; the other all picturesque, the trade and the port forming the exception.” (Excursions in Italy, p. 207)

In Rome, Cooper notices that it is a city that is still very much rooted in the past. He describes Rome as a city that has improved little to none of their architecture or infrastructure since the ancient days. This same sentiment is seen in the Roman people. They differ from the American in the way that they are proud of their past, and are not super interested in the problems of the future, but rather are focused on the present moment. Cooper notes that a Roman has no real desire to advance in a professional or financial sense and are merely satisfied with their current means.

“Rome is a city of palaces, monuments, and churches, that have already resisted centuries.” (Excursions in Italy, p. 202)

“The Roman is proud of his birthplace, proud of the past, satisfied with the present, proud of being able to trace his blood up to some consul perhaps.” (Excursions in Italy, p. 202)