Bidspirit auction | LETTERS of the Right Honourable

LETTERS of the Right Honourable Lady M.....Europe, asia and Africa. 1796. 2 em 1 v. - MONTAGU (Lady Mary Wortley) 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, etc. in different Parts of Europe; which contain, among other curious Relations, Accounts of the Policy and Manners of the Turks; drawn from Sources that have been inaccessible to other Travellers. A new edition.. Aix, Paris, London: Anthony Henricy; Chez la veuve Nyon; Printed for T. Becket and P. A. de Hondt, 1767-1803. 3 v. em dois; v. 1: xii, [2], 230 pp.; v.2: 214 pp.; Additional Volume: 142 pp.; 140 mm. e 165 mm. Three volumes in two bindings: the supplementary volume in contemporary full mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments, slightly worn; vols I–II together in later 19th-century red cloth, spine gilt with raised bands, rubbed and with some wear to the headcap. This English edition comprises three volumes: two volumes of Letters… in a non-uniform edition (vol. I printed in Aix by Anthony Henricy in 1796, vol. II in Paris by the widow Nyon in 1803) and the Additional Volume in the original London edition of 1767. The work was originally published in three volumes of letters, plus an additional volume, but in this second edition in only two, containing all the letters. The letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, written during her stay in Constantinople and other European travels in the early 18th century, provide one of the most celebrated accounts of Ottoman society as seen by a European woman: descriptions of the harem, the domestic life of Turkish women, social rituals, and, above all, the pioneering account of smallpox inoculation, which would have a major impact in England. Published posthumously in 1763 in three volumes, the letters enjoyed great publishing success and numerous reprints; the continental English-language editions, such as those from Aix and Paris, were aimed at British travelers and scholarly readers in the Francophone world and are now rarely available commercially. The additional London volume of 1767 constitutes the so-called ”fourth volume” of the Letters : it brings together a small set of letters and pieces attributed to Lady Mary, but probably fabricated or at least arranged by the publisher – most likely John Cleland – to take advantage of the success of the work. This is, nevertheless, an interesting testimony to the reception and mythology surrounding the figure of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and is a sought-after volume in collections dedicated to travel literature, the Ottoman world, and the history of vaccination. ! Please note that this translated text was generated by Google. !