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Page 1 of 3

Historical Memoirs of my Own Time
  • Volume 1, From 1772 to 1780
  • Nathaniel William Wraxall
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
    First published in:
    1815
  • Sir Nathanial William Wraxall (1751–1831), traveller and writer, served as an MP from 1780 to 1794 and was made a baronet in 1813. Upon publication in 1815, his memoirs were an immediate, though controversial, success: 1,000 copies sold out within five weeks. Accused of libelling a Russian diplomat, and found guilty, Wraxall brought out this second edition later that same year, with the offending passages removed. Volume 1 covers 1772–81, a period of extensive travel, which took him across several European countries, including Portugal, France, Germany and Italy, returning to London in 1780. The volume also contains the start of the work's controversial second part, which deals with the beginning of Wraxall's parliamentary career under Lord North's administration. The memoirs make for an entertaining read, and few from the distinguished circles in which the author moved are spared from his merciless facility for description.

Historical Memoirs of my Own Time
  • Volume 2, From 1781 to 1784
  • Nathaniel William Wraxall
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    24 July 2014
    First published in:
    1815
  • Sir Nathanial William Wraxall (1751–1831), traveller and writer, served as an MP from 1780 to 1794 and was made a baronet in 1813. Upon publication in 1815, his memoirs were an immediate, though controversial, success: 1,000 copies sold out within five weeks. Accused of libelling a Russian diplomat, and found guilty, Wraxall brought out this second edition later that same year, with the offending passages removed. Volume 2 comprises the majority of the second, and more controversial, part of the work, which covers 1781–4. Wraxall's early parliamentary years were a difficult period in England, the American War of Independence dominating Lord North's administration until his unexpected resignation on 20 March 1782. The 'great despondency' continued; nevertheless, Wraxall's colourful delineations of Fox and Burke, the Earl of Shelburne, Sheridan and Pitt, as well as 'the less efficient members of the cabinet', make for an entertaining read.

Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw, and Vienna, in the Years 1777, 1778, and 1779
  • Volume 1
  • Nathaniel William Wraxall
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1799
  • Nathaniel Wraxall (1751–1831) worked for the East India Company before becoming an MP in 1780. He travelled extensively in Europe and moved in royal and diplomatic circles, collecting anecdotes which later made their way into several popular travel narratives and memoirs that were to bring him great fame. In this work, published in two volumes in 1799 and using an epistolary form, Wraxall gives his impressions of a number of European courts that he visited in the late 1770s. In Volume 1 the author gives a personal account of the tragic destiny of Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark (the sister of George III of Great Britain), who was exiled to Celle in Germany after an extra-marital affair with her husband's doctor and counsellor. He also describes Frederick the Great of Prussia and his court, and laments the decline of the once-great city of Cracow.

Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw, and Vienna, in the Years 1777, 1778, and 1779
  • Volume 2
  • Nathaniel William Wraxall
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    28 June 2012
    First published in:
    1799
  • Nathaniel Wraxall (1751–1831) worked for the East India Company before becoming an MP in 1780. He travelled extensively in Europe and moved in royal and diplomatic circles, collecting anecdotes which later made their way into several popular travel narratives and memoirs that were to bring him great fame. In this work, published in two volumes in 1799 and using an epistolary form, Wraxall gives his impressions of a number of European courts that he visited in the late 1770s. Volume 2 describes Poland as a country in decline, and discusses the historical background to its present condition. He also provides anecdotes of the court and people of Vienna, and especially of the Habsburg monarchs Maria Theresa and Joseph II.

Page 1 of 3