Quick Facts
Biography
Julia Pardoe (December 4, 1806 – November 26, 1862), was an English poet, novelist, historian and traveller.
Life and writings
She was born at Beverley, Yorkshire, and showed an early interest in literature. She became a prolific and versatile writer, producing lively and well-written novels, many books on travel, and other volumes dealing with historical subjects. She was a keen observer, and her travel to the East gave her an accurate and deep knowledge of the peoples and manners there.
To modern readers, Pardoe is probably best known for her travel books on Turkey, which are some of the earliest works about the area by a woman. In 1836, she travelled to Constantinople with her father, Major Thomas Pardoe. This voyage inspired her book The City of the Sultan (1836). Later she collaborated with the artist William Henry Bartlett to produce The Beauties of the Bosphorus (1839), an illustrated account of Constantinople.