Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey through France, Italy, and Germany 2 Volume Set

Hester Piozzi's 1789 Observations of her travels around Europe with her second husband is a witty and fascinating account, full of conversational anecdotes and local colour, which today make it a valuable work of social history, as well as the entertaining travel book that it was originally intended to be.

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Hester Piozzi's 1789 two-volume Observations is an entertaining title, with a conversational, present-tense style that makes it stand out from other (largely male) travel writing of the period. Well educated and accustomed to society and activity, Hester was stifled in her first marriage to brewer Henry Thrale by constant pregnancies and a restrictive husband. A close friend of Samuel Johnson, Hester collaborated with him on several works, but also found herself increasingly called upon to nurse him as he became ill. Her second marriage, to Italian musician Gabriel Mario Piozzi in 1784, was therefore extremely liberating. The prolific European travels recounted in these volumes were an escape, allowing Hester to develop her own literary tone. The books were well received at the time, even being read at court by Queen Charlotte and Fanny Burney. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=piozhe