A handsome (and admirably annotated) edition of the letters of one of the Enlightenment's most stimulating and independent minds. Lady Mary, daughter of the Duke of Kingston, was born in 1689 and led a life of adventure and achievement - she married in secret, eloped to Constantinople, returned home in 1718 and, among other things, introduced inoculation against smallpox. A splendid woman, and a marvellous letter-writer.