In June 1795, Mary Wollstonecraft embarked on a three-month trip around Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, on undisclosed business at the request of her lover Gilbert Imlay. During the course of this voyage she wrote twenty-five letters to him, which were compiled the following year at the behest of her publisher into this volume. As a travelogue, the letters of course contain descriptions of the natural beauty of the places she visited and the habits and interests of the people she met; but what is more apparent is Mary's growing realization that this journey she has undertaken for Imlay ultimately won't heal their relationship. Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark was the last work of Mary Wollstonecraft's published during her lifetime; she died two years later, shortly after the birth of her second child, Mary Shelley . It follows the themes of her earlier works: a belief in reason's ability to elevate people, the injustice of society's oppression of women, and a spreading idea that commercialism does more to deprave than to enlighten humankind. Mary Wollstonecraft (died 1797) was one of the foundational figures of Western literary tradition. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide. The nonfiction literature of previous centuries offers invaluable windows into the minds and preoccupations of earlier ages. Letters Written During A Short Residence In Sweden Norway And Denmark combines the personal and the universal in ways that continue to resonate with contemporary readers seeking to understand both history and human nature.
