Lady Curzon’s India by John Bradley

Lady Curzon’s India

Letters of a Vicereine

Edited by John Bradley

Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1985, First edition
Black and white photographic plates, illustrated endpapers (maps)
Hardcover, dustjacket
ISBN 0297787012

Condition: Very Good
Minor edge and shelf wear, previous owners’ stamp on title page. Dustjacket very good with minor chipping (see photographs)

“Mary Curzon was one of the most remarkable women of her generation.  An intelligent and lovely American, she captivated society on both sides of the Atlantic.  As the wife of George Curzon, Viceroy of India form 1899 to 1905, she was the youngest woman to become Vicereine and the only American to attain that supreme position.
Lady Curzon’s letters from India to her family in America draw an informal picture of the Curzon’s public and private life that has no parallel in the records of British imperial rule.  They are fresh and colourful, describing – often with humour – the durbars, levees, dances and receptions (with sidelong glances at the amusing snobbery of the Anglo-Indians), as well as the physical discomforts and gruelling journeys she underwent as Vicereine.  These letters also provide the most intimate portrait yet of Lord Curzon, Mary’s beloved ‘Pappy’, revealing the devoted husband and father behind the austere public persona of the Viceroy.”