Beautiful Bermuda

Just What You Want to Know’ about ‘Beautiful Bermuda.’

This detailed guidebook to Bermuda provides all the information an early 21st-century traveler would need for a vacation to the exotic island. The British colony had been a popular retreat for wealthy individuals, particularly those looking to escape the North American summers, since the Victorian era. However, the introduction of new steamships and development on the islands allowed for the introduction of a new class of vacationers in the late 1800s.

This publication, claiming to show Bermuda ‘From Different Viewpoints’, would have been aimed at this economically diverse audience. Nearly two hundred pages contain dozens of photographs, descriptions of major attractions, contemporary advertisements, recommended itineraries, and basic details like recommended clothing, common foods, and available accommodations. Numerous folding maps, most of which are now disbound, are also included.

Of particular interest is a cycling map of the Bermuda Islands prepared by Lt. Colonel E.C.S. Moore, the commanding Royal Engineer. It shows highlights the road network (suitable for bicycles, rather than automobiles) and labels various points of interest like military infrastructure, public buildings, churches, and the lunatic asylum. A cautionary note in the bottom is aimed at reckless ‘wheelers’ – “Do not scorch around corners or curves, and do not coast any Hill until you have previously pedaled down it.”

Beautiful Bermuda was written by Mrs. Euphemia Young Bell and published in New York by J.D. & F.R. Bell in 1909. This is the third edition, the first being published in 1902. Printed by Alliance Press.