Letters of the Late Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton, to His Wife: With Extracts from Her Ms. "Autobiography" and Other Documents, Published in Vindication of Her Memory

Published in 1889, this volume serves as a contentious piece of Victorian literary history, compiled by Louisa Devey as a posthumous defense of Rosina Bulwer Lytton. Following a volatile and famously unhappy marriage to the prominent novelist and politician Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Rosina spent years seeking public sympathy and legal restitution. Devey, a close friend and literary executor to Lady Lytton, assembled these private letters and biographical fragments to challenge the narrative established by Edward, who had famously committed his wife to an asylum in 1858 and largely controlled the public perception of their domestic disputes.

The publication of these documents was designed to expose the inconsistencies in Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s public persona versus his private conduct. By curating the correspondence alongside extracts from Rosina's own unpublished autobiography, Devey sought to vindicate a woman who had been systematically marginalized by her husband’s social and political influence. While the book provides a vital primary source for scholars of 19th-century gender politics and marital law, it was received at the time as a sensational and deeply polarizing exposé, intended to rectify the historical record regarding the couple's notoriously acrimonious separation.