Montagu: Selected Letters

By Mary Wortley Montagu

Book Overview

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduced smallpox inoculation to England, was attacked in satires by her literary rival, Alexander Pope, and ran off to Venice with a young Italian lover. Throughout her life she recorded almost every aspect of her intriguing existence in letters about love, politics, science, gossip, literature, and more, displaying different aspects of her personality to her many correspondents. Although they were designed for publication, her Embassy Letters from Constantinople, where her husband was ambassador, are vividly personal. Equally revealing are several letters which have never before appeared in print, including one full of chamber-pot humor, and another that describes men as ?vile Inconstant Toads.' With examples from every type of correspondence, Isobel Grundy presents a superb selection of direct and vigorous letters that convey Lady Montagu's passion, wit, and originality.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140570268
• ISBN13: 9780140570267
• Release Date: August 1986
• Publisher: Puffin
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.0" x 1.0" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Not Your Normal Page-turner

A page-turner is what this turned out to be for me. I first read about Lady Mary while reading another book whose author described her as 'an intrepid 18th-century traveler'. That intrigued me. I meant to get Lady Mary's 'Travels' and found this delightful book instead. Her letters were so enjoyable it was hard for me to put this book aside. There's so much humor, wisdom and intelligence in her writing. She had a true spirit of adventure. I came away from this book admiring Lady Mary very much. It's a real shame her work is not more well known.

A Very Interesting Lady......

I stumbled upon this book while researching an essay on early modern women writers and quickly came to admire this wonderful woman. She has an intelligent and amusing way of describing and relating people and incidents. She has all the intelligence, brilliance and wit of Jane Austen. I highly recommend this for all those who love the lives of intelligent, spirited and talented women.