A Residence on the Shores of the Baltic
Described in a Series of Letters

A personal and fascinating account of Elizabeth Rigby's travels from London to Estonia via Denmark and Russia in the 1830s.

Elizabeth Rigby (Author)

9781108019361, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 August 2010

604 pages, 2 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3.4 cm, 0.76 kg

When Elizabeth Rigby (1809–1893) embarked on her travels to the Baltic states in 1838, she was already a published author. She was to play a significant role as a writer and public figure throughout the nineteenth century. Originally published in 1841 as two separate volumes, this book is a compilation of letters written to her mother during her journey to Estonia. Travelling alone was an unusual undertaking for a single woman at the time, and here she demonstrates her ability to provide detailed descriptions of the life and places she experiences. The first volume describes her journey to Reval (Tallinn) in Estonia, where she will stay with her sister. The second offers her fascinating insights into the political and social life of Estonia in the mid-nineteenth century, combining personal observations and historical facts. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=rigbel

1. Various motives of travel
2. Copenhagen
3. Mrs. Wilson's boarding-house
4. The Hermitage
5. Change of lodging
6. Detention in Petersburg
7. Unlocking hearts, and unpacking trunks
8. Ubiquity and transferability of happiness
9. Girl at her wheel
10. Similarity between old England and Estonia
11. Sudden transformation in the outer man
12. Acquirement of languages
13. Street scenes in Reval
14. Depressing effects of the long winter
15. Sudden burst of spring
16. Early rising
17. Bathing life at Reval
18. Reval at midsummer
19. Excessive heat
20. Fall and its beauties
21. Autumn scene
22. Russia considered as a study
23. Chief houses of reception in St. Petersburg
24. Prince Pierre Volkonski
25. Visit to the ateliers of Brülloff, Baron Klot, M. Jacques, M. Ladournaire.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]