Well known throughout polite society for her wit and verse, English world traveller Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) also worked to introduce the practice of inoculation against smallpox to the medical establishment of eighteenth-century Britain, despite their resistance to taking advice from a woman.

In an age noted for its wit, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu outshone many of her contemporaries. While education was not considered mandatory for young women, Montagu channelled her enthusiasm, curiosity, and intellect into numerous areas, including the arts, language, history, and even science, sharing her insights and humor with others through social interactions, published writings, and letters to family and friends.

Born the Honorable Mary Pierrepont on May 26, 1689, Montagu was the daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont, the Duke of Kingston. As a young girl she would miss the companionship of her mother, Mary Fielding, who died in 1694 when Mary was five, and the lack of...