From August, 1829, when he set sail from Puerto Cabello as an exile for alleged complicity in the attempt on Bolívar’s life, until June, 1832, when he left New York on his return trip to New Granada, Santander kept a detailed diary of his travels which is now printed for the first time. The period of exile was naturally a bitter one in some respects, but it offered a golden opportunity. Quite apart from the personal pleasures of foreign travel, Santander was able to study at first hand the nations of Europe and North America to which he and other Latin American liberals looked for inspiration and examples in bringing their own countries abreast of the progress of the modern world. He assiduously visited not only the standard tourist attractions but also the schools and hospitals, factories and reformatories from which useful lessons might be learned for whatever time his countrymen again called him to their service. In the process he made the acquaintance of innumerable scholars, statesmen, and fellow exiles: Bentham and Humboldt, Andrew Jackson and Louis Philippe, Joseph Bonaparte and José de San Martín.

This pilgrimage inevitably brings to mind the earlier travels of Miranda over much of the same route (although imperial Russia, now in less enlightened hands, refused Santander a visa). Santander’s diary, however, makes less lively reading than Miranda’s. If he had any sexual adventures, they are discreetly omitted. Indeed the tone of the diary is thoroughly impersonal. Museum contents are listed in exasperating fullness, travel costs and exchange rates are meticulously set down, but the actual substance of conversations with the great and nongreat is indicated usually in the most general terms if at all. The diary is, in short, a spare, factual memorandum of things seen and people met, with a minimum of personal commentary.

There are, of course, some exceptions. Santander will occasionally digress from the daily chronicle to insert a brief analysis of a topic such as English national character. There are miscellaneous short comments by Santander on the issues of the day in countries which he visited, and interesting references to the European reaction to his own presence. And it is of more than just biographical significance to have a complete record, scattered through the pages of the diary, of the other granadinos with whom Santander consorted abroad, and of his correspondents and business agents back home. But unfortunately the items of note must be dug out from among a much larger number of details that add nothing to the understanding of Santander except for the fact that he bothered to record them.

Despite the limitations indicated, the diary is a welcome addition to the body of published Santandereana. It has been transcribed and edited, from the original now in possession of the Banco de la República, by Rafael Martínez Briceño, who has also supplied an introduction. A map of the European portion of the travels is included, and there is an index (not quite complete) of personal names. The editing is adequate for most purposes but not wholly consistent; e.g., in some cases foreign names misspelled by Santander have been corrected in the text, while in others they have not been corrected.