Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M-y W-y M-e Written during Her Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa to Persons of Distinction, Men of Letters, &c. in Different Parts of Europe

by Mary Wortley Montagu

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Genres: History, Ebooks, Travel

284 pages, Kindle Edition

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...