Journal of a Residence in Chile, during the Year 1822

Published in 1824, this journal depicts one woman's intrepid immersion in the culture and society of post-independence Chile.

Part history, part civic reflection, consistently engaged with its subject, this 1824 work depicts one woman's immersion in the culture of post-independence Chile. The widely travelled writer Maria Graham (1785–1842), later Lady Callcott, considers Chile's past and what the future holds for the new nation and its citizens.Published in 1824, the journal of Maria Graham (1785–1842) depicts one woman's immersion in the culture and society of post-independence Chile. Graham, known later as Lady Callcott, travelled through India and Europe as well as South America, and her writings and reflections on these regions and their cultures, as well as other historical works, established her reputation both as a writer and later as an art historian. Graham outlines the parameters of her work in her preface and her historical Introduction: she is interested not only in what has happened to the Chileans, but in what the future holds for them and their new nation. Graham's writing reveals sensitivity to the sentimental, romantic, and gothic trends among her contemporaries, and her Journal benefits from her literary awareness.