Article: The Countess of Blessington: reading as intimacy, reading as sociability.(Marguerite Gardiner)(Critical essay)

When the American journalist Nathaniel Parker Willis visited London in 1834, one of his aims was to acquaint himself with the social and intellectual elite. Since the Countess of Blessington was one of the foremost salonnieres, Willis visited her soon after his arrival. Blessington, recently famous Conversations of Lord Byron (1832/33) and a prolific author of novels, stories, and occasional poems, had just started to edit annuals. She was certainly no "bluestocking" in the style of the Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey, or the Berry sisters. And she never wrote any tracts about female learning, either in the conservative style of Hannah More, or in the revolutionary ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!