Harriette Wilson's Memoirs

First published in 1825, these memoirs are the first-person account of Harriette Wilson, a London courtesan who moved among officers, peers, and politicians in the Regency. She describes her entry into that world, her liaisons and rivalries with other women of the demi-monde, and her dealings with men who later held public office, among them the Duke of Wellington. The narrative is episodic: houses, assemblies, debts, letters, and the bargaining that sustained her living. She wrote after those connections had faded, addressing former patrons who were invited to pay for silence. It is a social memoir of sex, money, and reputation, not a political history of the period.

12 leaves of plates of reproductions of some of the etchings. Full purple artificial silk binding with a design in gold on the spine. Green endleaves. Pale lilac slipcase.