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Eliza Roberts (poet)

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Eliza Roberts
Occupationpoet; translator
LanguageEnglish
PeriodRomantic era
Years active1780-1788
Notable workTranslator of Rousseau

Literature portal
Roberts published two poems in The Lady's poetical magazine; or, Beauties of British poetry. 4 volumes. Vol. I. London: Harrison, 1781.

Eliza Roberts (fl. 1780–1788) was a British Romantic-era poet and translator of Rousseau.

Life and work

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Few details are known of her life. She was possibly the same Eliza Roberts, said to be "literary",[1] who was mother to travel writer and poet Emma Roberts.[2]

As "Miss Roberts", she published two poems, "Effusions of melancholy" and "On a supposed slight from a friend" in the Lady's Poetical Magazine, Or Beauties of British Poetry (1781-1782).[3][4] In 1788 she published The Beauties of Rousseau. Selected by a Lady, translations of a series of excerpts from various works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.[5]

"Effusions of melancholy" and "On a supposed slight from a friend" were anthologized in the first known anthology of writing by women in English, Poems by Eminent Ladies (2nd edition, 1785, pp. 125–127).

Bibliography

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  • Miss Roberts, "Effusions of melancholy", The Lady's poetical magazine; or, Beauties of British poetry Vol. I. London: Harrison, 1781, p. 443-444. (Etext, Internet Archive)
  • Miss Roberts, "On a supposed slight from a friend", The Lady's poetical magazine; or, Beauties of British poetry Vol. II. London: Harrison, 1781, p. 189-190. (Etext, Internet Archive)
  • The Beauties of Rousseau. Selected by a Lady. 2 Vols. London: printed for T. Hookham, 1788. ESTC T136489; ECCO.

Notes

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  1. ^ Elwood, [Anne]. "Emma Roberts". Memoirs of the Literary Ladies of England. Vol. 2 London: Henry Colburn, 1843, pp. 333–347.
  2. ^ Colbert, Benjamin. "Roberts, Emma, 1791—1840". British Travel Writing. University of Wolverhampton. Accessed 10/09/2023.
  3. ^ "Effusions of melancholy", Vol. I., p. 443-444.
  4. ^ "On a supposed slight from a friend", Vol. II., p. 189-190.
  5. ^ Todd, p. 269.

References

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  • Todd, Janet. "Eliza Roberts". A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985, p. 269. (Etext, Internet Archive)