Letters Written in France

Letters Written in France

Title page for the first edition of volume one
Author	Helen Maria Williams
Language	English
Genre	Travel literature, letter collection
Publisher	T. Cadell, G.G. & J. Robinson
Publication date	1790–1796
Publication place	United Kingdom

Letters Written in France (1790–1796) is a letter collection by English writer Helen Maria Williams. Williams published eight volumes of letters describing her firsthand experience of the French Revolution for British audiences. Williams witnessed the Fête de la Fédération, the executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and much of the Reign of Terror. She was briefly a political prisoner and an exile in Switzerland, but returned to Paris after the execution of Robespierre. Williams' Letters express consistent confidence in the revolutionary ideals of liberty and equality, even after the development of violence and war in France. The first volume, describing the summer of 1790, was the most famous and influential. It was well-received as a rebuttal to conservative viewpoints in the public debate known as the Revolution Controversy. Later volumes had more mixed or negative reception, as England was more politically opposed to France.