The Turkish Embassy Letters

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.

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.