Letters …Written, during her Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa. Vol. II

1763

Shoults Eb 1763 M

London: Printed for T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt

Lady Mary Montagu’s famed ‘Embassy Letters’ were the result of her two years in Turkey, when she accompanied her husband, the British ambassador, to his post in Constantinople. Her Letters, written from a then uniquely new female perspective, describe the Turkish men and women encountered, their dress, habits, traditions, limitations, and liberties. Montagu happily wore the veil (yashmak), which enabled her greater freedom of movement denied to other uncovered Christian females. She was the first to favourably describe polygamy. Montagu (1689-1762) was well equipped for her travels. She had read Arabian Nights, de la Croix’s Milles et un jours (Persian Tales), and the Koran (in French). She had Latin, and understood Turkish in the original. This third edition appeared in 1763, the same year as the first.