As a companion to “Love Letters of Great Men”, this collection gives the other side of the story: the secret hopes and lives of some of the greatest women in history, from writers and artists to politicians and queens. It includes letters by: Anne Boleyn, Edith Wharton, Mary Wordsworth, Nell Gwyn (mistress of Charles II), Queen Victoria, the Empress Josephine, Mary Wollstonecraft, Katherine Mansfield, and, George Sand.

From the private papers of Anne Boleyn and Emily Dickinson to those of Empress JosEphine and Queen Victoria, Love Letters of Great Women is an anthology of some of the most romantic letters in history.

Some are full of longing and passion; some seem astonishingly contemporary in their outlook; others demonstrate how affairs of the heart could irrevocably alter the course of a woman's whole life, as witnessed by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's anguished cry to her beloved before their elopement in 1712:'I tremble for what we are doing. Are you sure you will love me for ever？ I fear, and I hope.'

A perfect companion to the bestselling Love Letters of Great Men, this collection gives us the other side of the story: the secret desires of some of the greatest women in history, from writers and artists to actresses and queens.The love written here comes in many forms - deluded, erotic, fervent, bold - but love it is, and a legacy to cherish.

Introduction

Lady Joan Pelham to Sir John Pelham

Margery Brews (Paston) to Sir John Paston

Katherine of Aragon to Henry VIII

Anne Boleyn to Henry VIII

Dorothy Osborne (Temple) to Sir William Temple

Nell Gwyn to Lawrence Hyde (later Earl of Rochester)

Lady Mary Pierrepont (Lady Mary Wortley Montagu) to Edward Wortley Montagu

Abigail Smith (Adams) toJohn Adams

Manon Jeanne Philipon (Madame Roland) to Leonard Buzot

Maria Smythe (Mrs Fitzherbert) to the Prince Regent

Mary Wollstonecraft to Gilbert Imlay

Mary Wollstonecraft to William Godwin

Marie-Josephe-Rose Tascher de la Pagerie (Empress Josephine) to Napoleon Bonaparte

Mary Hutchinson (Wordsworth) to William Wordsworth

Maria Branwell (Bronte) to the Rev. Patrick Bronte

Maria Bicknell (Constable) to John Constable

Claire Clairmont to Lord Byron

Jane Welsh (garBle) to Thomas gartyle

George Sand to Alfred de Musset

George Sand to Pietro Pagello

Clara Wieck (Schumann) to Robert Schumann

Queen Victoria to Prince Albert

Queen Victoria to the King of the Belgians

Emily Dickinson to Susan Gilbert (Dickinson)

Isabella Mayson (Mrs Beeton) to Sam Beeton

Mary Wyndham (Lady Elcho) to Arthur Balfour

Edith NewboldJones (Wharton) to W. Morton Fullerton

Rosa Luxemburg to Leo Jogiches

Empress Alexandra of Russia to Tsar Nicholas II

Katherine Mansfield to John Middleton Murry

Katherine Mansfield to Princess Bibesco(nee Elizabeth Asquith)

Letters from the Great War

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

A Note on the Type