The "Ladies of Llangollen" / as Sketched by Many Hands; with Notices of Other Objects of Interest in "That Sweetest of Vales"

The book traces Lady Eleanor Butler and Miss Ponsonby's decision to withdraw from fashionable society and establish a joint household at Plas Newydd in the Welsh valley of Llangollen. It recounts their elopements, motives for a life of celibacy and friendship, and the distinctive Gothicized cottage, gardens, and eccentric dress and manners that attracted visitors. The account compiles anecdotes, correspondence, and visitors' impressions, notes their charitable acts and the literary curiosity they inspired, and records the later deaths of each woman, while also describing other local topography and points of interest in the surrounding vale.