Mary Montagu was one of the most extraordinary characters in the world. She was a self-educated intellectual, a free spirit, a radical, a feminist but also an entitled aristocrat and a society wit with powerful friends at court. In 1716 she travelled across Europe to take up residence in Istanbul as the wife of the British ambassador. Her letters remain as fresh as the day they were penned: enchanted by her discoveries of the life of Turkish women behind the veil, by Arabic poetry and by contemporary medical practices - including inoculation. For two years she lovingly observed Ottoman society as a participant, with affection, intelligence and an astonishing lack of prejudice.
Mary Wortley Montagu, Robert Halsband, Isobel Grundy, University of Illinois) Halsband, Robert (late Professor of English, late Professor of English, University of Alberta) Grundy, Isobel (Henry Marshall Tory Professor, Henry Marshall Tory Professor
Mary Wortley Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, Mary W. Montagu, Isobel Grundy, Canada) Grundy, Isobel (Henry Marshall Tory Professor, Henry Marshall Tory Professor, University of Alberta