ABSTRACT
Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway and Denmark appeared in a single edition in Wollstonecraft's lifetime. The letters, which were written for publication, were addressed to Wollstonecraft's former lover Gilbert Imlay. According to Per Nystrom, in Mary Wollstonecraft's Scandinavian Journey, during the break-up of their relationship, she went as Imlay's business agent to seek compensation for a treasure ship, the Maria and Margaretha, which he owned. The disappearance, which was being investigated by a Danish Royal Commission, was a legally delicate matter from Imlay's point of view as the ship had been breaking the British blockade on trade between neutral Scandinavia and Revolutionary France. Both the journey and the book were motivated by her desire for financial independence. The writing travels, or memoirs, has ever been a pleasant employment; for vanity or sensibility always renders it interesting.
