Originally published in three volumes between 1724 and 1726, this takes the form of 13 letters, describing 'whatever is curious and worth observation'. In the present edition Defoe's original text is abridged and edited by P.N. Furbank and W.R. Owens.
Although Defoe's travels were undertaken before Wilson embarked on his artistic career it is instructive to compare his descriptions of sites that the artist was later to depict, e.g. Dover (Letter II, p. 52), Wilton House (Letter III, pp. 79-80) and Caernarvon Castle (Letter VI, p. 196)
