The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: 1708-1720

Book excerpt: The second volume of Lady Mary's Complete Letters includes the brilliant series to her sister Lady Mar, now for the first time edited entirely from the original manuscripts; the long, varied series to Lady Pomfret, from England as well as the Continent; the dutiful letters, many previously unprinted, to her husband about her travels and about her children; and the series to Lady Oxford, annotated from Lady Oxford's own manuscripts. Of the new correspondences, the most significant are her letters to Francesco Algarotti, which reveal new aspects of her personality and of her art as a letter-writer, and me ample series (in French) to Madame Chiara Bragadin Michiel, a Venetian lady, which displays her graciousness sparked with flashes of wit.