The Turkish Embassy Letters
(Paperback)
Publishing Details
The Turkish Embassy Letters
By (Author) Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Introduction by Anita Desai
Little, Brown Book Group
Virago Press Ltd
12th August 1996
27th January 1994
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Biography: philosophy and social sciences
Diaries, letters and journals
Cultural studies
828.509
Physical Properties
Paperback
240
Width 196mm, Height 126mm, Spine 12mm
173g
Description
The critical and biographical introduction tells of Lady Wortley Montagu's travels through Europe to Turkey in 1716, where her husband had been appointed Ambassador. Her lively letters offer insights into the paradoxical freedoms conferred on Muslim women by the veil, the value of experimental work by Turkish doctors on inoculation, and the beauty of Arab poetry and culture.
Reviews
'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
Author Bio
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.
