When the Countess of Blessington (1789 1849) met the poet Lord Byron (1788 1824) in Genoa in 1823 she noted that 'the impression of the first few minutes disappointed me'. Despite this precarious start, they struck up a friendship and met nearly every day for two months. Byron had been living in the Italian port city since the previous autumn and Blessington and her family had arrived in April 1823. Her account of their conversations was not published until 1834, a decade after Byron's death. Blessington expresses candid opinions about the poet in this work, writing that Byron 'is a strange...

Marguerite Gardiner, countess of Blessington (1789 1849), was famous for her charm, wit and beauty, the latter reflected in Sir Thomas Lawrence's famous portrait of her in 1822. Blessington had an unhappy childhood, and was forced into her first marriage at the age of fourteen, but had developed a love of reading and story-telling. With her second husband Charles John Gardiner, first Earl of Blessington, she lived for several years in France and Italy. This three-volume work, first published 1839 40, contains Blessington's humorous account of living abroad. She gives detailed descriptions of...

Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789 1849), was famous for her charm, wit and beauty, the latter reflected in Sir Thomas Lawrence's famous portrait of her in 1822. Blessington had an unhappy childhood, and was forced into her first marriage at the age of fourteen, but had developed a love of reading and story-telling. With her second husband Charles John Gardiner, first Earl of Blessington, she lived for several years in France and Italy. This three-volume work, first published 1839 40, contains Blessington's humorous account of living abroad. In Volume 2 she gives detailed...

Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789 1849) was famous for her charm, wit and beauty, the latter reflected in Sir Thomas Lawrence's famous portrait of her in 1822. Blessington had an unhappy childhood, and was forced into her first marriage at the age of fourteen, but had developed a love of reading and story-telling. With her second husband Charles John Gardiner, first Earl of Blessington, she lived for several years in France and Italy. This three-volume work, first published 1839 40, contains Blessington's humorous account of living abroad. Volume 3 includes her lively...

Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789 1849), was famous for her charm, wit, and beauty, the latter reflected in Sir Thomas Lawrence's famous portrait of her in 1822. Blessington had an unhappy childhood, and was forced into her first marriage at the age of fourteen, but had developed a love of reading and story-telling. With her second husband Charles John Gardiner, first Earl of Blessington, she lived for several years in France and Italy. In this work, originally published in two volumes in 1841, the author describes her impressions of nature, people and daily life in different...