Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, from Letters of the Right Honourable Lady M—y W—y M—e: Written, during her Travels in Europe, Asia and Africa (1763)

Self-educated, witty and brilliant, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689–1762) was well known in the literary circles of such as Joseph Addison and Alexander Pope. Aside from the Letters, her most famous writings are the satirical poems on contemporary manners Six Town Eclogues written in 1714–16 (published 1747). In 1712, she married Edward Wortley Montagu MP (against her father’s wishes), and in 1716 he was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary to the Court of Turkey — he was also to represent the Levant Company trade interests in the Near East. This was a posting to the heart of the Ottoman empire, an important region for British political and economic strategy.