Glacier Montanvert

Glacier Montanvert was the common name in the 18th century for a portion of the Alps glacier, now known as Mer de Glace, on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif. Alternative spellings of Montanvert include Montainvert and Montvers. The Glacier Montanvert was a popular tourist destination of European travellers and is referenced in numerous travel writings and novels of the time.

In literature

South-eastern France including Corsica: handbook for travellers by Karl Baedeker
  • Travel writer Karl Baedeker includes Montanvert in his 1898 travel guide South-eastern France including Corsica: handbook for travellers. In his guide Bauedeker suggests visitors to Chamonix devote at least one day to ascending the Montanvert and to crossing the Mer de Glace, a journey he claims takes about four hours. Baedeker describes Montanvert as,
“an eminence on the E. side of the valley, is visited for the view is affords of the vast ‘sea of ice’ which fills the highest basins of the Mont Blanc chain in three branches…and descends into the valley in a huge stream of ice, about 4 ½ M. long and ½-1 ¼ M. broad, called the Mer de Glace above the Montanvert and the Glacier des Bois below it.” [1]

Voyages Dans les Alpes, Précédés d’un Essai sur l’Histoire Naturelle des Environs de Geneve by Horace-Bénedict De Saussure
  • In 1786 Horace-Bénédict de Saussure published in French a collection of travel writings titled Voyages Dans les Alpes, Précédés d’un Essai sur l’Histoire Naturelle des Environs de Geneve (Travels in the Alps, Preceded by an essay on the natural history of Geneva and the surrounding area) in which he mentions Montanvert numerous times. De Saussure explains the popularity of Montanvert is a result of the magnificent views it affords of the Mer de Glace and the surrounding mountains. The view from Montanvert encompasses the Chamonix valley, the Arve river, many villages surrounded by trees and well cultivated fields.[2]

Lettres d’un Voyageur Anglois sur la France, la Suisse et ’Allemagne by John Moore
  • In 1781 John Moore published (in French) a collection of travel writings titled Lettres d’un Voyageur Anglois sur la France, la Suisse et ’Allemagne (Letters from an English traveler on France, Switzerland and Germany) in which he recounts ascending Montanvert a journey of four hours that Moore claims could not be more beautiful. Moore describes the Mer de Glace as a sea agitated by a storm whose waves are all of a sudden stopped and fixed by a strong sudden freeze.[3]

The Romance of the Forest by Ann Radcliffe

Other references in literature
  • In the 1776 collection of travel writings by Marc Theodore Bourrit titled A relation of a journey to the glaciers in the Duchy of Savoy. [4]
  • In the 1791 collection of travel writings by William Coxe titled Travels in Switzerland, and in the country of the Grisons: in a series of letters to William Melmoth. [5]
  • In the 1796 collection of travel writings by John Owen titled Travels into different parts of Europe, in the years 1791 and 1792, with familiar remarks on places-men-and manners. [6]
  • In the 1818 gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley in which Victor Frankenstein ascends Montanvert where he meets his creation.

References
  1. Baedeker, Karl. South-eastern France including Corsica: handbook for travellers. Leipsic: Karl Baedeker, 1898. Google Books. Web. 28 February 2011.
  2. De Saussure, Horace-Bénedict. Voyages Dans les Alpes, Précédés d’un Essai sur l’Histoire Naturelle des Environs de Geneve. Geneva, Switzerland: Barde, Manget & Compagnie, 1786. Gallica.bnf.fr. Web. 12 Feb. 2011.
  3. Moore, John. Lettres d’un Voyageur Anglois sur la France, la Suisse et ’Allemagne. Geneva, Switzerland: Isaac Bardin, 1781. Gallica.bnf.fr. Web. 12 Feb. 2011.
  4. Bourrit, Marc-Théodore. A relation of a journey to the glaciers in the Dutchy of Savoy. Dublin: printed for R. Cross, D. Chamberlain, J. Hoey, J. Potts, J. Williams [and eight others], 1776. ECCO. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.
  5. Coxe, William. Travels in Switzerland, and in the country of the Grisons: in a series of letters to William Melmoth, Esq; from William Coxe…In three volumes. London: printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand, 1791. ECCO. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.
  6. Owen, John. Travels into different parts of Europe, in the years 1791 and 1792. With familiar remarks on places-men-and manners. London: printed for T.Cadell jun, and W. Davies, 1796. ECCO. Web. 15 Feb. 2011.

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