Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife; January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Fair. viii, 324, [4] pages. Frontis illustration. Illustrations. Index. Spine torn (and reglued) and chipped. Front hinge weak. Some page discoloration. Inscribed to Mrs. John Page by Thomas Nelson Page inside front cover!!! Mary Alsop King Waddington (April 28, 1833 - June 30, 1923) was an American author. She wrote about her life as the wife of a French diplomat. Mary moved to France in 1871, where she met her eventual husband. During World War I, she helped raise funds for soldiers and refugees. Mary was the author of Letter of a Diplomat's wife (1902), Italian letters of a Diplomat's wife (1904), Chateau and Country Life in France (1909), and My First Years as a Frenchwoman (1914). In 1874, she married William Henry Waddington (1826-1894) in Paris. Waddington was a French statesman who became the Prime Minister of France in 1879, and French Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1883 to 1893 In December, 1879, M. William Henry Waddington resigned the Premiership of France, and the following month, accompanied by his wife, left Paris for a winter of rest and recreation in Italy, chiefly in Rome. The letters from Madame Waddington to her mother and sister, which constitute "Part I" of this volume, describe this journey and residence. Those forming "Part II" relate the incidents of a similar Roman sojourn some twenty years later, M. Waddington having died in the meantime. The two series together compose a picture of life and society in the Italian capital with a wide range of contrast and comparison, corresponding with those of London and Moscow in the well-known "Letters of a Diplomat's Wife" by the same writer. Thomas Nelson Page (April 23, 1853 - November 1, 1922) was a lawyer and American writer. He served as the U.S. ambassador to Italy under President Woodrow Wilson during World War I.