“Hester Lynch Thrale (1741- 1821) was a British diarist, author, and patron of the arts. Her diaries and correspondence are an important source of information about Samuel Johnson and 18th-century life. (…) After her marriage, Mrs Thrale was liberated and free to associate with whom she pleased. Due to her husband’s financial status, she was able to enter London society, as a result of which she met Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Bishop Thomas Percy, Oliver Goldsmith and other literary figures, including the young Fanny Burney, whom she took with her to Gay Street, Bath.”
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> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hester_Thrale
