Ellen Wayles Coolidge arrived in London in June 1838 at the advent of Queen Victoria's reign--the citizens were still celebrating the coronation. During her nine-month stay, Coolidge kept a diary that reveals the uncommon education of her youth, when she lived and studied at Monticello with her grandfather, Thomas Jefferson. London's docks, theaters, parks, public buildings, and museums all come under Coolidge's astute gaze as she and her husband, Joseph Coolidge Jr., travel the city and gradually gain entry into some of the most coveted drawing rooms of the time.

Coolidge records...