The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (Volume I - 1708-1720)

London: Oxford University Press, 1965. T5 - A first edition (same date) hardcover book SIGNED and inscribed by Robert Halsband to previous owner on the front free endpaper in very good condition in fair dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket has label and label residue on the front, wrinkling, chipping, crease, some tears and peeling on the edges, sides and corners, less than 2" taped tears on the top and bottom spine, less than an inch tear on the front top right side, scattered rubbing, scraches, scuffing, light smudges and foxing, marked out price on the front flap, tanning, and shelf wear. Book has some bumped corners and dents, some wrinkling on the spine edges, scattered light foxing and stains on the page edges, endpapers and some inside pages, light tanning and shelf wear. The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (Volume I - 1708-1720). 8.75"x5.5", 468 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an English aristocrat, medical pioneer, 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 as the British ambassador to the Sublime Porte. Lady Mary joined her husband on the Ottoman excursion, where she was to spend the next two years of her life. During her time there, Lady Mary wrote extensively on her experience as a woman in Ottoman Constantinople. After her return to England, Lady Mary devoted her attention to the upbringing of her family before dying of cancer in 1762. Although having regularly socialised with the court of George I and George Augustus, Prince of Wales (later King George II) , Lady Mary is today chiefly remembered for her letters, particularly her Turkish Embassy Letters describing her travels to the Ottoman Empire, as wife to the British ambassador to Turkey, which Billie Melman describes as "the very first example of a secular work by a woman about the Muslim Orient". Aside from her writing, Mary is also known for introducing and advocating smallpox inoculation in Britain after her return from Turkey. Her writings address and challenge some contemporary social attitudes towards women and their intellectual and social growth at that time. . Signed by Author. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Fair. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.