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Turkish Embassy Letters

Turkish Embassy Letters
By Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

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Product Description

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was described by a contemporary as "one of the most extraordinary shining characters in the world." Her letters, collected here, tell of her travels through Europe to Turkey in 1716, where her husband had been appointed Ambassador. Her liveliness makes them delightfully readable, and her singular intelligence provides us with insights that were exceptional for their time. Her ability to study another culture according to its own values, and to see herself through the eyes of others, makes Lady Mary one of the most fascinating and accomplished of early travel writers.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #228143 in Books
  • Published on: 1994-01-01
  • Released on: 1994-02-27
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 190 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

Review
'Her letters have an immediacy and vivacity that remains as fresh as the mosiacs on the ancient monuments she saw and the eastern gardens that gave her such delight.' Anita Desai

From the Publisher
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) was described by a contemporary as "one of the most extraordinary shining characters in the world." Her letters, collected here, tell of her travels through Europe to Turkey in 1716, where her husband had been appointed Ambassador. Her liveliness makes them delightfully readable, and her singular intelligence provides us with insights that were exceptional for their time. Her ability to study another culture according to its own values, and to see herself through the eyes of others, makes Lady Mary one of the most fascinating and accomplished of early travel writers.

About the Author
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's connections with poets such as Pope, Congreve and Addison and with Whig politicians through her father and husband provide a fascinating base for the correspondence.

Customer Reviews

Academic, but a good view of British Orientalist literature4
I read this novel for a class in British Orientalist literature. It's a series of letters written by a woman who travels to the East. Read it in conjunction with _Arabian Nights_, _Vathek_, _Rasselas_, and some other Orientalist tales, and you can get some interesting insights in eighteenth century England and the exotic/erotic elements of the East.