Overview

Henrietta Liston's Constantinople journal is a significant and hitherto virtually unknown work of women's travel writing. As the wife of the British Ambassador to the Porte, Liston had privileged access to parts of the Sultan's entourage and the Ottoman elite. Her journal details her journey by sea from England to Istanbul and the diplomatic mission's Mediterranean stops at the time of the Napoleonic wars and reflects on the political situation of Europe, focusing in particular on the British and the Ottoman Empires. Yet it also offers a human-centred version of the picturesque, and includes depictions of a plague-ridden Constantinople, a visit to the harem of the Kaimakam, excursions to Belgrade Village, the presentation of ambassadors in the Seraglio, and the departure of pilgrims on the hajj. This edition features Liston's journal alongside a selection of her other, shorter writings from Turkey, including accounts of key diplomatic incidents and personal experiences.

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9781474467353

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Reviews

"An exemplary piece of scholarly work, and for me, personally, a revelation. Mrs Liston has a lovely way with words, and a lovely way of greeting each new city, each new island and wind, as she and her husband sail to Constantinople, and then through it. No one could ask for a better travel companion: she is always more interested in the world around her than she is in herself. Together with the editors of this fine edition, she takes us back to the imperial city as she found it in 1812, restoring it to vibrant life.-- ""Professor Maureen Freely FRSL, University of Warwick"" Henrietta Liston's Travels: The Turkish Journals, 1812-1820, edited by an international team of experts, is an exciting addition to oriental travelogues by British women. From the diplomatic salons and ceremonies of Constantinople to the villages and gardens along the Bosphorus, Liston's fascinating accounts powerfully evoke a world long gone.-- ""Gerald MacLean, University of Exeter"" Henrietta Liston's Constantinople Journal captures readers from its opening sentence, as if it were a novel. This meticulously edited, highly readable and thoughtfully modernised edition is a valuable and compelling addition to the emergent canon of writings by British women who travelled to the Ottoman empire.-- ""Donna Landry, University of Kent"""

Author Information

Patrick Hart is Assistant Professor in the Department of English Literature at Bilkent University, Ankara. He is founder and editor of the Journal of the Northern Renaissance. Valerie Kennedy is Assistant Professor in the Department of English Literature at Bilkent University, Ankara. She is author of Edward Said: A Critical Introduction (Polity, 2000). Dora Petherbridge is Curator of North American and Commonwealth Collections at the National Library of Scotland.

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