Description

Hester Lynch Thrale (born Hester Lynch Salusbury and after her second marriage became Hester Lynch Piozzi, 1741-1821) was a British diarist, author and patron of the arts whose diaries and correspondence are an important source of information about Samuel Johnson and eighteenth-century life. The Salusburys were one of the most illustrious Welsh land-owning dynasties of the Georgian era but after her father went bankrupt Hester married rich brewer Henry Thrale with whom she had 12 children. Her husband's financial status allowed her to enter London society where she met many of the literary figures of the day, including Dr Johnson, James Boswell, Oliver Goldsmith and the young Fanny Burney. Mr Thrale died in 1781 and Hester later fell in love with Gabriel Piozzi, an Italian music teacher, whom she married in 1784, returning to live in Wales. This collection of letters to her friend Penelope Pennington (nee Weston) was published in 1914 and includes 30 illustrations.