About the Journal

This is the complete journal of Vincent Price’s first trip abroad to Europe in 1928 at the age of 17 that was purchased from Vincent’s estate on 25 October 2007. Price faithfully wrote every day in the 6 3/8″ x 4″ blue leather journal that is embossed in gold: My Trip Abroad. In the flyleaf, he writes in pen:

Forward
My first trip abroad will be, I hope, just a starter on a long life filled with voyages.
Though my travel line on my palm is long enough I am going to cheat it and travel more than my allowance. . . “Deo volente”
July 5 1928

Vincent travelled across from New York to Southampton on the HRMS Caronia on 6 July 1928 and returned on the HRMS Tuscania on 26 August 1928, both Cunard ships.

Already an art lover as a teenager, Vincent travelled 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, The Netherlands, Germany’s Rhine Valley, Switzerland’s Alpine region, Pompeii and Florence in Italy, Vincent’s beloved Rome, Paris and the World War I battlefields of France.

I feel so privileged to own this one-of-a-kind piece of Vincent Price memorabilia, but after meeting other collector’s and fans at the Vincentennial in St Louis, Missouri (Vincent’s home town) back in 2011, I was determined to share this journal with other fans. Taking the form of a real-time travel blog, I have transcribed Vincent’s journal (as he wrote it) and added pictures from the period, as well as notes about the places that Vincent visits, to create a window into what Europe and the world was like in 1928. I do hope you enjoy it.

A WORD FROM VICTORIA PRICE
‘One of the most significant events of my father’s youth was his 1928 trip to Europe alone, when he was just 17 years old. It had been his dream to see the Continent and the works of the Old Masters, and he had saved his money for years (and gone to summer school to improve his grades) in order to be allowed to go by his parents. That trip changed his life, and gave him the goal of creating a life in the visual arts for himself and for others. 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

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