The Letters of Lady Wortley Montagu

by Mary Wortley Montagu

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1869 edition. ... will not fail to write you regular accounts of all your acquaintance. Mr. Strickland has had a prodigy of good fortune befallen him, which, I suppose, you have heard of. My little commission is hardly worth speaking of; if you have not already laid out that small sum in St . Cloud ware, I had rather have it in plain lutestring of any color. Lady Stafford desires you would buy one suit of minunet for head and ruffles at Boileau's. LETTER VII. • I can not enough thank you, my dear sister, for the trouble you give yourself in my affairs, though I am still so unhappy to find your care very ineffectual. I have actually in my present possession a formal letter directed to Mr. W to acquaint him with the whole business. You may imagine the inevitable eternal misfortunes it would have thrown me into, had it been delivered by the person to whom it was intrusted. I wish you would make him sensible of the infamy of his proceeding, which can no way in the world turn to his advantage. Did I refuse giving up the strictest account, or had I not the clearest demonstration in my hands of the truth and sincerity with which I acted, there might be some temptation to this business; but all he can expect by informing Mr. W , is to hear him repeat the same things that I assert; he will not retrieve one farthing, and I am forever miserable. I beg no more of him than to direct any person, man or woman, either lawyer, broker, or a person of quality, to examine me; and as soon as he has sent a proper authority to discharge me on inquiry, I am ready to be examined. I think no offer can be fairer from any person his conduct toward ine is so infamous that I am informed I might prosecute him by law if he was here ; he demanding the whole sum as a...

Genres: History, Ebooks, Travel

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1800

About the author

Poerrepont

The Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an English aristocrat and writer. Montagu is today chiefly remembered for her letters, particularly her letters from Turkey, which have been described by Billie Melman as “the very first example of a secular work by a woman about the Muslim Orient”.

Reviews

[Aimée · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed dipping into the manner of the travel of the time -- so different to the modern day --, the different culture observations (and fashions and living arrangements) of the various places that this lady was seemingly rather earnest in seeing and considering. Things will have changed of course, especially re the fashions, and the politics, but it's still interesting, and worth reading for these things, in my opinion, and actually lends it an extra charm -- the sense of strolling through things lost. And seeing it from her perspective as someone from a place that hadn't had much contact bar dry books on the matter, if you read them, and hearsay.

It would have been improved as a book if maybe they accompanied it with a map and headed each new place with the path travelled through and where they are -- often it's apparent from the letters, if you want to look it up. But it would have been a nice touch. Other points, there is much in the letters that leave gaps. We remain very unaware of her husband and her husband's business as an ambassador that sends them there (and then apparently back at least a way again?). The fact that she was intent upon inoculating her son for small pox in the method she found in the country -- did she end up doing this? Did she when/if she got back to England become an advocate for the procedure like she had intended to at the time of writing that particular letter?

It may be other editions or books of her letters have other things. I just picked one I found free on gutenberg, because I was interested in her reaction to and experience with the Turkish and Muslim ladies - this seems to be the one I got.

She writes quite engagingly, with some interesting observations peppered throughout. There are elements that are a bit distasteful or disagreeable, but I think that is the minority, and in general, she was quite a forward person for the time (or what people might fear of the time) and seemed to have quite an inclusive attitude (of a sort).

The poem at the end by Mr. Pope, I think, was an excellent ending for it.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a woman from 300 years ago! Granted, she was traveling in higher circles, but still she has a great curiosity of the cultures encountered rather than being dismissive. Her time in Turkey gets top billing, but I found her stops along the way interesting as well; there is even a trip to North Africa via Malta. One point that struck me was that she was pregnant on the outbound trip, mentioning in passing that she had her baby in Turkey. Otherwise, I would never have known.

I read the Project Gutenberg edition, which is well-formatted.

[Eric Asherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old language and also letters so just kinda weird.

[Katarzyna Bartoszynska]

Vibrant and delightful. Not always as politically correct as one might hope (the anti-semitism is particularly distasteful), but surprisingly open-minded overall. A really fascinating glimpse into eighteenth-century life. Definitely gonna put this on a syllabus or two...