Abstract
In May 1796, Sarah Murray, a 52-year-old widow, left London for a tour of Scotland with the specific aim of writing a guidebook. Presenting herself as competent and capable, Murray used a variety of rhetorical strategies to establish her authority while at the same time retaining her respectability. Not afraid of physically demanding activity, she encouraged her readers to do as she did, persuading them that true “lovers of nature” should be willing to take risks and accept uncomfortable conditions. Much of her advice was aimed directly at women and it is clear that she considered adventurous travel a suitable occupation for upper-class women like herself. This essay discusses Murray's travels and writings within the wider context of eighteenth-century travel writing, focusing on issues of self-representation, women's roles and the destabilizing nature of travel in the late eighteenth century.
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