Anna Jameson (1794–1860) was an inspirational figure to a generation of young women writers and artists including Barbara Bodichon and Bessie Rayner Parkes. Her work was reviewed by leading figures such as Mary Shelley and Charles Kingsley, and even Thomas Carlyle, though less complimentary, referred to her as the 'celebrated Mrs Jamieson'. This book, first published in 1838, secured her growing reputation as a writer of history, literary criticism and travel literature, and has been popular ever since. Inspired by a journey made to support the career of her estranged husband, one of its key themes is the condition of women, which recurs regularly in Jameson's writing. In Volume 1, Jameson describes her difficulty adapting to the winter cold, her impressions of Ontario's landscape, peoples, and political system, and her reflections on literature, especially Goethe. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=jamean