Abstract
John Gibson Lockhart (1794-1854) was a Scottish editor, novelist, poet, translator, and biographer. Today, he is mainly known as one of the contributors to the Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1817-1825) and for his magnum opus Life of Scott (1837-1838).
The paper focuses on Lockhart's notes made during all his travels to Western Europe (1817), Central Europe (1849), and Italy (1843, 1853). It also analyses one of his earliest works Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk (1819) - a humorous Scottish travelogue; its fictional narrator Peter Morris caricatures many Scottish peculiarities and celebrities.
The paper argues that Lockhart's clever observations, comments, and illustrations of foreign countries are often unfairly neglected and might serve as valuable sources for both literary and cultural historians.