Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope

Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope (17761839) was the daughter of Charles Stanhope (the 3rd Earl Stanhope) a British politician and inventor. Well connected in British society her status was somewhat diminished upon the death (1806) of her uncle Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger. Soon however she embarked on the greatest adventure of her life which would ensure her place in history as a colorful fearless inquisitive and determined woman: in 1810 she went on a sea voyage heading first to Rhodes and then on to various destinations winding up in the Middle East where she remained for the rest of her life.. To be sure her lifes travels were facilitated from a position of privilege; but the account of her life and travels is a fascinating read illuminating her day and age: daily life politics prejudice intrigue cultural conceptions.. Her life and travels were chronicled by her personal physician Charles Lewis Meryon who accompanied her on her travels and who returned to visit her in Lebanon where she had settled near Sidon. Meryon wrote three volumes entitled Memoirs of Lady Hester Stanhope and followed these accounts with three further volumes entitled Travels of Lady Hester Stanhope of which this book is volume 1.. Reprinted in facsimile many times this volume instead makes available for the first time a completely revised scholarly edition.