A Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople. In a series of letters... to his Serene Highness the Margrave of Brandebourg, Anspach, and Bareith. Written in the year 1786.
by Craven, Elizabeth
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Rye, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: G.G. and J. Robinson, 1789. First edition, 4to, pp.[vi], 327, [1, directions to the binder]. With a folding map and 6 engraved plates, 1 of which folding. A very good copy in contemporary speckled calf, neatly recased. Faint rubbing to extremities, light foxing to first few leaves. A couple notes to margins by a previous owner. A fascinating account by Elizabeth Craven (1750-1828), a leading lady of her day, made up of letters to her then illicit partner Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1736-1806). Craven was a controversial figure: at the age of 16 she had been forced to marry William Craven, 6th Baron Craven. Both were open about the numerous affairs they had with different partners and their dislike for each other. They split permanently, while still married, when Elizabeth was just 29 and already mother of seven children. It was not long after that she and Alexander started their relationship, but they could only marry in 1791 after William Craven died. These letters were written and published before their official partnership, only adding to the scandal that followed her name. So controversial was she that even Queen Marie-Antoinette snubbed her presence along with most women conscious of their reputation. This was her first work on travel, previously being prolific in writing comedies and plays. The language is refreshingly conversational in tone, with Craven stopping in her narrative to appreciate art and her surroundings. She is unintentionally humorous at times: looking down her nose at Moscow as "a large village", or being ambushed by an expatriate lady now living in Russia who "almost smothered me with kisses" for the sight of seeing a fellow Englishwoman. Atabey 297; Blackmer 424; Weber II 614
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Details
- Bookseller
- John Randall (Books of Asia) (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 120495
- Title
- A Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople. In a series of letters... to his Serene Highness the Margrave of Brandebourg, Anspach, and Bareith. Written in the year 1786.
- Author
- Craven, Elizabeth
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- G.G. and J. Robinson
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1789
- Keywords
- |Women
- Bookseller catalogs
- Islamic World; Turkey;
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About the Seller
John Randall (Books of Asia)
Biblio member since 2018
Rye, East Sussex
About John Randall (Books of Asia)
John Randall has been selling rare and scholarly books on Asia since 1978. We hold more than 30,000 titles warehoused in East Sussex.We issue regular email catalogues in our Orientalia series on India & Pakistan, the Islamic World, Southeast Asia, China, Central Asia, and Ceylon.If you would like to receive any or all of these catalogues please confirm your interest by email.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- G
- Good describes the average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present. Any defects must be noted. (as defined by AB...
- Leaves
- Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...