Mistress of the Elgin Marbles 
A Biography of Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin 
By Susan Nagel

“Mary lived a rich and rewarding life until she died in 1855, at the age of seventy-seven. Destined to live a charmed life, why, then, was she buried in an unmarked gave at Kensal Green in London.”

       Born in 1778 Mary Hamilton Nesbit was one of the richest heiresses in the new United Kingdom of Great Britain. Under Scottish law, Mary would get her inheritance because she would be a brotherless daughter. Mary lived a “cosseted and cloistered” life. She was educated as well as a boy. Long before her début, Mary was a visible presence in high society, in both London and Scotland. The engaging, modern, in-demand Mary would eventually grow up to marry Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin. They will eventually be linked to the Parthenon Marbles later referred to as the Elgin Marbles. Mary Nisbet used her charms to get the marbles and have them shipped to England. The detailed adventure is absorbing and dramatic.

      Later the Nisbet marriage crumbles and the marbles are sold to the British government. Readers will learn about Mary’s entire life, her marriage, the loss of a child, her affair with Thomas’ best friend, and a public divorce. It’s an engrossing read for anyone who enjoys history, art, biographies, and/or those fascinated with British and Scottish High Society. Readers will find Mary as captivating in print as she was at the Balls at Gloucester House.