Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

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Standard Name: Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley
Birth Name: Mary Pierrepont
Styled: Lady Mary Pierrepont
Nickname: Flavia
Nickname: Sappho
Married Name: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Indexed Name: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Pseudonym: Strephon
Pseudonym: Clarinda
Pseudonym: A Turkey Merchant
LMWM , eighteenth-century woman of letters, identified herself as a writer, a sister of the quill
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Halsband, Robert, Clarendon Press, 1965–1967, 3 vols.
3: 173
haunted by the daemon of poetry. She wrote poems, essays, letters (including the letters from Europe and Turkey which she later recast as a highly successful travel book), fiction (including adult fairy-tale, oriental tale, and full-length mock romance), satire, a diary, a play, a political periodical, and a history of her own times. Not all of these survive. Best known in her lifetime for her poetry, she is today still best known for her letters.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Halsband, Robert, Clarendon Press, 1965–1967, 3 vols.
3: 173, 183
Photo of a full-length painting of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu by Jonathan Richardson recording her time in Turkey. She stands outdoors, with famous buildings of Constantinople (Istanbul) visible beyond. She is dressed in gold: a caftan whose deep V-neck and open skirt reveal a lace shift and long harem drawers. She also wears a gold cap which she calls a talpock on her dark hair, a blue cloak edged with ermine, pearl drop earrings, and pointed slippers. The presence of the young Black boy behind her is start

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
Anthologization Martha Fowke
Five poems by MF (as Mrs. Fowke) appeared in good poetic company (with Pope , Prior , Susanna Centlivre , Lady Mary Wortley Montagu , and others) in Anthony Hammond 's A New Miscellany, published on 19 May 1720.
Birth Henry Fielding
He was the elder brother of Sarah Fielding , and second cousin of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (their grandfathers were brothers).
Birth Lady Louisa Stuart
At her christening, on 6 September 1757, Lady Mary Coke stood proxy for Lady Mary Wortley Montagu as godmother.
Stuart, Lady Louisa. Letters of Lady Louisa Stuart to Miss Louisa Clinton. Editor Home, Hon. James Archibald, D. Douglas, 1901–1903, 2 vols.
1: 260
death William Congreve
His hitherto discreet partner the young Duchess of Marlboroughmade herself conspicuous by her public mourning.
Harris, Frances. A Passion for Government: The life of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Clarendon, 1991.
276
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu wrote a poem to the memory of Congreve, who, she says, In pain could...
death Henry Fielding
His cousin Lady Mary Wortley Montagu wrote that HF and Sir Richard Steele were both so form'd for Happiness, it is a pity they were not Immortal.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Halsband, Robert, Clarendon Press, 1965–1967, 3 vols.
3: 88
Dedications Emily Frederick Clark
EFC published by subscription a volume of Poems: Consisting Principally of Ballads, dedicated to Lady Lonsdale (eldest grand-daughter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu ).
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.
Clark, Emily Frederick. Poems: Consisting Principally of Ballads. F. C. and J. Rivington, 1810.
prelims
Dedications L. E. L.
It was dedicated to Lady Emmeline Stuart Wortley , descendant of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu . A modern reprint appeared in 1992.
Education Jane Gardam
She was twelve when she overheard her English teacher telling her parents that she was clever, well ahead of the standard for her age. By this time she was attending Saltburn High School for Girls...
Education George Gordon sixth Baron Byron
Byron's voracious reading in childhood was probably fostered by an unhappy emotional life from which imaginative escape was welcome. His favourite books were then the Arabian Nights and travel books about the East, especially that...
Education Helen Dunmore
While HD was growing up she read a lot of Russian fiction and poetry.
qtd. in
McCrum, Robert. “The Siege is a novel for now”. The Observer, 10 June 2001.
The poems of Osip Mandelstam were her talismans.
McCrum, Robert. “The Siege is a novel for now”. The Observer, 10 June 2001.
The books that she read, she says, made me, as a person...
Education Elizabeth Grant
EG refers to a number of texts that influenced her as a child. She learned to read by the age of three, taught by loving aunts, and remembered in particular Puss in Boots, Bluebeard...
Family and Intimate relationships Frances Seymour Countess of Hertford
Lord Hertford (whose titles after his mother's death included Baron de Percy) was then a well-known rake whose lifestyle included daily drinking bouts with cronies until late at night. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu depicted...
Family and Intimate relationships Lady Louisa Stuart
It gave LLS some trouble as a child that her grandmother was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu : I am sure I heartily hated her name. Whatever I wanted to learn, everybody was up in arms...
Family and Intimate relationships Elizabeth Burnet
This marriage gave EB a family of five stepchildren (bequeathed to her care by their own mother when she was close to death). They were three boys (all of whom went on to careers ranking...
Family and Intimate relationships Mary Eleanor Bowes Countess of Strathmore
Her mother, born Mary Gilbert , from a gentry family in Hertfordshire, was her father's second wife, married more than twenty years after the death of his first. (That first wife, the beautiful, scholarly, fourteen-year-old...

Timeline

1656: Abraham Cowley published Poems; this volume,...

Writing climate item

1656

Abraham Cowley published Poems; this volume, which included his Pindaric Odes and Miscellanies, confirmed his stature as the leading poet of the day.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.

1686: Madame de Maintenon founded, in a nunnery...

Building item

1686

Madame de Maintenon founded, in a nunnery at St Cyr near Paris, a school for impoverished noble girls. Closed with other convents at the Revolution, the institution re-opened in 1808 as a school for...

1 December 1699: John Pomfret published The Choice, a poem...

Writing climate item

1 December 1699

John Pomfret published The Choice, a poem in praise of the good life; among many other poems sharing this title, or that of The Wish, Pomfret's became a long-lived favourite.
Foxon, David F. English Verse 1701-1750. Cambridge University Press, 1975, 2 vols.
Messenger, Ann. Pastoral Tradition and the Female Talent: Studies in Augustan Poetry. AMS Press, 2001.
58, 60, 67, 79, 86-7

1 March 1711: Joseph Addison began to publish the Spec...

Writing climate item

1 March 1711

Joseph Addison began to publish the Spectator.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.

14 April 1713: Joseph Addison's influential classical tragedy,...

Writing climate item

14 April 1713

Joseph Addison 's influential classical tragedy, Cato, opened.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
2.1: 299

13 June 1716: After the early death of Mary Monck, her...

Women writers item

13 June 1716

After the early death of Mary Monck , her grieving father, Robert, Viscount Molesworth , published Marinda: Poems and Translations upon Several Occasions, which contains writing by her and others.
Foxon, David F. English Verse 1701-1750. Cambridge University Press, 1975, 2 vols.

19 May 1720: A New Miscellany, edited by Anthony Hammond,...

Women writers item

19 May 1720

A New Miscellany, edited by Anthony Hammond , included work by Pope , Prior , William Bond , George Sewell , Susanna Centlivre , Delarivier Manley , Eliza Haywood , Martha Fowke , and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu .
Lonsdale, Roger, editor. Eighteenth-Century Women Poets. Oxford University Press, 1990.
84
Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Clarendon, 1999.
198

30 June 1724: The House of Lords began hearing William...

Building item

30 June 1724

The House of Lords began hearing William Yonge 's case for divorcing his wife.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2025, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Clarendon, 1999.
239-40

February 1726: Richard Savage published his Miscellaneous...

Writing climate item

February 1726

Richard Savage published his Miscellaneous Poems and Translations: dedicated to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu , it included work by Eliza Haywood , Martha Fowke , and Miranda Hill .
Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Clarendon, 1999.
263-4 and nn68, 69
Prescott, Sarah. Women, Authorship, and Literary Culture, 1690-1740. Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

27 June 1726: The leading colliery owners on Tyneside set...

Building item

27 June 1726

The leading colliery owners on Tyneside set up a new cartel, the Combination or Grand Alliance, to replace an one dissolved in 1715.
Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Clarendon, 1999.
184, 86

16 February 1728: Henry Fielding's first play, Love in Several...

Writing climate item

16 February 1728

Henry Fielding 's first play, Love in Several Masques, opened on stage.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
2.2: 959

25 June 1731: George Lillo's bourgeois tragedy The London...

Writing climate item

25 June 1731

George Lillo 's bourgeois tragedy The London Merchant; or, The True History of George Barnwell had its debut at Drury Lane , London.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
3: 147

Valentine's Day 1732: Henry Fielding's The Modern Husband opened;...

Building item

Valentine's Day 1732

Henry Fielding 's The Modern Husband opened; it was published the same month.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
3: 190
The Monthly Chronicle. Aaron Ward.
Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Clarendon, 1999.
296-7

12 March 1733: George Lyttelton published a poem entitled...

Building item

12 March 1733

George Lyttelton published a poem entitled Advice to a Lady.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Essays and Poems and Simplicity, A Comedy. Editors Halsband, Robert and Isobel Grundy, Oxford University Press, 1993.
264

November 1739: The anonymous, probably female Sophia published...

Women writers item

November 1739

The anonymous, probably female Sophia published a pamphlet entitled Woman not Inferior to Man.
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
9 (1739): 608

Texts

Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, and Laetitia Pilkington. “Annotation”. The Memoirs of Mrs. Laetitia Pilkington.
Stuart, Lady Louisa, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. “Biographical Anecdotes of Lady M. W. Montagu and Supplement to the Anecdotes”. Essays and Poems and Simplicity A Comedy, edited by Robert Halsband et al., Clarendon Press, 1993, pp. 6-61.
Stuart, Lady Louisa, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. “Biographical Anecdotes of Lady M.W. Montagu”. The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, edited by James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, first Baron Wharncliffe and James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, first Baron Wharncliffe, R. Bentley, 1837, pp. 1: 1 - 105.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Court Poems. Edmund Curll, 1716.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Essays and Poems and Simplicity, A Comedy. Editors Halsband, Robert and Isobel Grundy, Oxford University Press, 1993.
Murphy, Dervla et al. “Introduction”. Embassy to Constantinople, Century, 1988, pp. 7-37.
Desai, Anita, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. “Introduction”. Turkish Embassy Letters, edited by Malcolm Jack and Malcolm Jack, University of Georgia Press, 1993, p. vii - xxxvii.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M— W—y M—e. 1st ed., T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, 1763, 3 vols.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M— W—y M—e. Pirated with spurious additions, A. Homer and P. Milton, 1764, 2 vols.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M— W—y M—e. New, T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, 1767, 4 vols.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Original Letters from the Right Honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montague, to Sir James & Lady Frances Steuart; also Memoirs and Anecdotes of those distinguished persons. Printed by Robert Donaldson, 1818.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. “Preface”. The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, edited by W. Moy Thomas, Swan Sonnenschein, 1893, p. iii - viii.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Romance Writings. Editor Grundy, Isobel, Clarendon Press, 1996.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Selected Letters. Editor Grundy, Isobel, Penguin, 1997.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. Six Town Eclogues. Printed for M. Cooper, 1747.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Halsband, Robert, Clarendon Press, 1967, 3 vols.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Dean’s Provocation for Writing the Lady’s Dressing-Room. A Poem. Printed for T. Cooper, 1734, 89 ll., folio.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Wharncliffe, James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie, first Baron, Richard Bentley, 1836, 3 vols.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Thomas, W. Moy, 3rd ed., Henry G. Bohn, 1861, 2 vols.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Thomas, W. Moy, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2 vols., http://www.cambridge.org/series/sSeries.asp?code=CLOR.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Nonsense of Common-Sense. James Roberts (a pamphlet-seller rather than a publisher), 9 issues.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Nonsense of Common-Sense, 1737-1738. Editor Halsband, Robert, Northwestern University Press, 1947.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Poetical Works of the Right Honourable Lady M—y W—y M—e. Editor Reed, Isaac, 1st ed., Printed for J. Williams, 1768, 1 vol.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Verse of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. A Critical Edition. Editor Grundy, Isobel, Oxford University, 1971.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Works of the Right Honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Dallaway, James, Richard Phillips, 1803, 5 vols.