Richard Ford

Richard Ford (1796–1858) was an English travel writer known for his books on Spain. Born in Chelsea into a high-class family and educated in Oxford, he first moved to Spain in 1830, where he travelled extensively and collected notes and drawings. Upon return to England, he wrote an account of his journeys in A Handbook for Travellers in Spain, first published in 1845, described as one of masterpieces of the travel literature genre. An erudite and art collector, he befriended many important art and literature figures of his time. Ford was a skilled drawer himself, and made illustrations for his own and his friends' books.