The Literary Life and Correspondence of the Countess of Blessington The Literary Life and Correspondence of the Countess of Blessington 3 Volume Set Series

Following her advantageous second marriage, the famous beauty Marguerite, Countess of Blessington (1789?1849), presided over one of London's most glittering salons, variously attended by Thomas Moore, Disraeli, Bulwer Lytton and Dickens. After her husband's death in 1829, she augmented her income by writing, most notably her Conversations with Lord Byron, which recounted her acquaintance with the poet in Genoa. Despite considerable success, her debt-ridden establishment collapsed in 1849 and Lady Blessington fled to Paris, where she died. This 1855 biography and letters, in three volumes was edited by R. R. Madden (1798?1886), colonial administrator and Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, who had first met the Blessingtons in Naples in 1821. It illuminates the intriguing social role of the salon hostess and its many financial and emotional pressures. Volume 2 contains brief biographies of her various correspondents, followed by their letters.

1. Preliminary notice of the correspondence of Lady Blessington; 2. Notice of Sir William Gell, and sketch of his character by James Ramsay, Esq.; 3. Letters of Sir William Gell to Lady Blessington; 4. Letters of Sir William Gell to Lady Blessington; 5. Letters of Sir William Gell to Lady Blessington; 6. Notice of Sir William Drummond; 7. Notices of Charles Reilly, Esq., Surgeon, R.N.; 8. Notice of the Honourable Richard Keppel Craven, and Margravine of Anspach; 9. Notice and letters of Thomas James Mathias, Esq.; 10. Notice and letters of Coun Matuschewitz; 11. Notice and letters of the Duke D'Ossuna; 12. Notice and letters of Monsieur Eugene Sue; 13. Notice and letters of Casimer Delavigne; 14. Letter from John Auldjo, Esq., to Lady Blessington; 15. Notice and letters of the Countess Guiccioli, now Mdme. la Marquise de Boissy; 16. Notice and letters of L. E. L.; 17. Notice and letters of the Contessa America Vespucci, Mrs. Sigourney, Miss Sheridan, Mrs. Abell, the Betsy Balcombe of St. Helena, Miss Roberts, Mrs. Romer; 18. Notice of Walter Savage Landor; 19. Letters of W. S. Landor to Lady Blessington; 20. Notice of John Forster, Esq.; 21. Notice and letters of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.