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Charles Lewis Meryon (1783–1877)
Memoirs of the Lady Hester Stanhope. Vol. 2 of 2
London: H. Colburn, 1846
NYPL, The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle
Lady Hester Stanhope (1776–1839) was famous in her lifetime as the woman
who left London for the desert of present-day Lebanon, living with a freedom
she was denied at home. She is seen in this frontispiece smoking a hookah and
conversing with her confidant and doctor, Charles Meryon, whose Memoirs was
instrumental in preserving her memory. On only a modest income, Lady Hester
built a large compound and acted as doctor, astrologist, and hostess to travelers
and the local population.
