The ''Turkish Embassy Letters'' are a

letter collection A letter collection or letter book consists of a publication, usually a book, containing a compilation of letters written by a real person. Unlike an epistolary novel, a letter collection belongs to non-fiction literature. As a publication, a lett ...

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont; 15 May 168921 August 1762) was an English aristocrat, writer, and poet. Born in 1689, Lady Mary spent her early life in England. In 1712, Lady Mary married Edward Wortley Montagu, who later served a ...

's reflections on her travels through the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

between 1716 and 1718. She collected and revised them throughout her life, circulating the manuscripts among friends, and they were first published in 1763 after her death.

Background

Mary and Edward Wortley Montagu, both of wealthy and aristocratic families, married in 1712. Mary played an active role in furthering Edward's ambitious political career. In 1716, Edward was appointed as the Ambassador Extraordinary to the Court of Turkey, which he and Mary expected to be a twenty-year position abroad. One of Edward Montagu's tasks was to offer British mediation to mitigate the brewing war between Turkey and Austria, which he attempted in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, though he had little impact. The Montagus travelled extensively in Europe before proceeding to Turkey. They visited

Helvoetsluys Hellevoetsluis () is a small city and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in Voorne-Putten, South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and it includes the population centres Nieuw-Helvoet, Nieuwenhoor ...

, Rotterdam, Den Hague, Nijmegen, Cologne, Nuremberg,

Ratisbon Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, Prague, Brunswick, and Hanover, in addition to their five-month stay in Vienna. They then travelled along the Danube to Constantinople, where Edward Montagu took up his post. He was recalled back to England after only two years, and the couple travelled through Italy and France on their return.

The ''Turkish Embassy Letters'' consist of fifty-eight letters addressed to friends and relatives from various places on their journey. Twenty-two letters describe their travels in Europe on the way to Turkey, twenty-seven were written from Turkey in Adrianople or Constantinople, and nine are from their return journey. Although the majority of the letters were written in Europe, Montagu's descriptions of Turkey garnered the most attention, especially her descriptions of women-only spaces such as baths.

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* * {{Cite book , last=O'Loughlin , first=Katrina , title=Women, writing, and travel in the eighteenth century , date=2018 , isbn=978-1-108-59992-4 , location=Cambridge, United Kingdom , chapter='A very diligent curiosity': Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's ''Embassy Letters'' , oclc=1038481886 1716 documents 1717 documents 1718 documents 1763 books Collections of letters Travel books Books about the Ottoman Empire Books published posthumously

Background

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