MONTAGUE, Mary Wortley, Lady, 1689-1762.: Letters of the Right Honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montague : Written during her travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, to persons of distinction, men of letters, &c. in different parts of Europe... , London : Printed by J. Smith, 17, Queen Street, Seven Dials, for S. A. Oddy, 17, Picket Street, Temple Bar, 1811.

Title continues: "... Which Contain, Among Other Curious Relations, Accounts of the Policy and Manners of the Turks; Drawn from Sources That Have Been Inaccessible to Other Travellers. A New Edition to which are added POEMS by the same author." A very good half leather binding. 24mo. pp. 8/pp. 356 . 5" x 3" x 0.75" . Brown calf over marbled boards. Spine with gilt titles and gilt date of publication. Later plain endpapers (handmade paper). Original free-endpapers. Engraved portrait frontis of Lady Montague by "Rivers sculpt." Followed by and engraved title (also by 'Rivers sculpt.'). Followed by printed title and preface (ending with an advertisement). A very good little book except for foxing to the titles and some pages of text. *** " In 1716 her husband was appointed Ambassador to the Porte and she sensationally decided to join him. They arrived in Constantiople almost a year after leaving London and settled in a hilltop palace at Pera, which became their home for 18 months. Her letters provide an intriguing example of authorial selectivity. She treats the political, historical and social morales of the Germans, Austrian and Turkish courts. Lady Mary became a great admirer of Turkish culture and her work includes insights that were exceptional for their time, for example; the paradoxical freedom conferred on Muslim women by veil; the value of experimental work by Turkish doctors on inoculation and the beauty of Arab poetry and culture. Thereafter she spent more than 20 years living on the Continent. The letters she wrote back home are justly ranked among the most celebrated of their kind in a century richly endowed with excellent letterwriters. In 1762 she returned to England and she died shortly thereafter. The following year her letters were published for the first time and have probably never been out of print since." - See Wikipedia (Book ref. 37625)  £40.00

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