Journey to Italy by Marquis de Sade (review).

This article focuses on James A. Steintrager's 2020 translation and edition of the Marquis de Sade's *Journey to Italy*, a detailed travel narrative that reveals Sade’s perspectives as an eighteenth-century grand tourist. The work combines Sade’s firsthand descriptions of Italian cities, monuments, and customs with his moralistic reflections and proposed reforms, distinguishing it from other contemporary travel accounts by its encyclopedic scope and postediting additions. Sade’s narrative is marked by his critical and misogynistic views, particularly toward Italian women and society, and his interpretation of Italy’s historical sites, such as Pompeii and Herculaneum, as symbols of decadence that align with his libertine worldview. Notably, the account lacks engagement with contemporary Italian intellectuals, focusing instead on classical and Renaissance legacies, and is supported by Steintrager’s extensive scholarly annotations that contextualize Sade’s complex and often contradictory observations.