Mary Wortley Montagu, Turkish Embassy Letters

Joshua Grasso (East Central University)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1763

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Letter(s)

Resources

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Recommended Reading

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s

The Turkish Embassy Letters

(1763) conjoins travel writing, memoir, and satire. In keeping with the great works of fictional travel writing of her day (

Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels

), Montagu took her actual impressions of Turkish culture and added a thin veneer of fiction, much of it “reflected in tranquility”, to borrow Wordsworth’s phrase. For unlike Defoe or Swift, Montagu actually traveled to Turkey in 1716 to accompany her husband, who had been newly appointed

Ambassador Extraordinary

to the Court of Turkey. A prolific letter-writer, Montagu documented every stage of her trip, from a brief stay in Vienna to the torturous journey through Hungary, and finally, experiencing the sights and sounds of Constantinople itself. She addressed these…

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2243 words

Citation: Grasso, Joshua. "Turkish Embassy Letters". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 November 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8486, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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Mary Wortley Montagu, Turkish Embassy Letters

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