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Lucy Aikin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Lucy Aikin Born	6 November 1781 Warrington, England Died	29 January 1864 (aged 82) Cause of Death	Influenza Hampstead, England Pen name	Mary Godolphin; I.F.M.; J.F.W. Occupation	author Language	English Nationality	British Relatives	Dr. John Aikin, John Aikin, Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Charles Rochemont, Anna Letitia Le Breton Lucy Aikin (6 November 1781 – 29 January 1864) was an English historical writer, biographer, correspondent, and feminist. She also published under the pseudonyms Mary Godolphin, I. F. M. and J. F. W.[Source?] Her literature-minded family included her aunt Anna Laetitia Barbauld, a writer of poetry, essays and children's books.

Contents 1	Early life 2	Works 3	Letters and translations 4	Death and legacy 5	Selected works 5.1	Works attributed to her as Mary Godolphin 6	Notes 7	References 8	Further reading 8.1	Attribution 9	External links Early life Born at Warrington in 1781, Aikin was the fourth child of a physician, John Aikin (1747–1822), and his wife, Martha Jennings (died 1830).[1] Theirs was a literary family of prominent Unitarians. Lucy's father was also a historian, and her grandfather, likewise called John Aikin (1713–1780), was a Unitarian scholar and theological tutor, closely associated with Warrington Academy. Lucy's aunt was Anna Laetitia Barbauld, a prominent children's writer, her brother Arthur Aikin (1773–1854) was a chemist, mineralogist and scientific writer, and their brother Charles Rochemont (1775–1847) was adopted by Barbauld and became a doctor and chemist. Another brother, the architect Edmund Aikin (1780–1820), also wrote influential works about architecture.[1]

She lived with her parents in Yarmouth and Stoke Newington until the death of her father in 1822, when she moved to Hampstead, where apart from a short interval in Wimbledon, she spent the remainder of her life.

Except for a brief attendance at a day school in Yarmouth, Aikin was educated largely by her father and her aunt, Anna Letita Aikin Barbauld, an early critic of the education system. Aikin "read widely in English, French, Italian, and Latin literature and history,"[1] began publishing periodicals for magazines at the age of seventeen, and at an early age assisted her father as an editor of his writings.[2]

Works Aikin's works delved into the artistic, social, and literary sides of her period rather than its religious, military or parliamentary history.[1]

In 1810 appeared her first considerable work, Epistles on Women, Exemplifying their Character and Condition in Various Ages and Nations, with Miscellaneous Poems, and in 1814 her only work of fiction, entitled Lorimer, a Tale. Those were just earlier efforts, but her reputation was gained wholly by historical works published between the years 1818 and 1843: Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth(1818); Memoirs of the Court of James I. (1822); Memoirs of the Court of Charles I. (1833); and the Life of Addison (1843). The last of these, which contained many letters of Addison never before published, was the subject of an essay by Macaulay, who while praising Aikin's other works, and especially her Memoirs of the Court of James I, observed that she was "far more at home among the ruffs and peaked beards of Theobalds than among the steenkirks and flowing periwigs which surrounded Queen Anne's tea table at Hampton."[3]

Of her other memoirs, she herself wrote on completing her Charles I, "I am resolved against proceeding farther with English sovereigns. Charles II is no theme for me: it would make me condemn my species." Aikin also wrote a life of her father, and of her aunt, Mrs Barbauld, and many minor pieces.

Like Barbauld, Aikin was interested in early education, and as such published several works to assist young readers: Poetry for Children: Consisting of Short Pieces to be Committed to Memory (1801), Juvenile Correspondence or Letters, Designed as Examples of the Epistolary Style, for Children of Both Sexes (1811), An English Lesson Book, for the Junior Classes (1828), and The Acts of Life: of Providing Food, of Providing Clothing, of Providing Shelter (1858). Under the pseudonym Mary Godolphin, Aikin is also attributed with versions of Pilgrim's Progress, Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson, Aesop's Fables, Evenings at Home (by her father and aunt), and Sandford and Merton written "in Words of One Syllable".

Letters and translations Aikin's conversational powers were remarkable, and she was a graceful and graphic letter writer. Her letters to her relatives and intimate friends showed her relish for society, contained criticism of leaders on both sides of the Atlantic as well as various writers (both male and female), and were full of wit and lively anecdotes of distinguished literary persons. She maintained for almost 16 years (1826–1842) a graver correspondence with the Rev. Dr William Ellery Channing, an American Unitarian theologian in Boston, on religion, philosophy, politics, and literature.[3]

Aikin was also responsible for translating several French texts: Louis Francois Jauffret's The Travels of Rolando (publication around 1804), and Jean Gaspard Hess's The Life of Ulrich Zwingli (1812), on a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland.

Personal Life Aikin never married and never had children. She lived with her father in Stoke Newington, Middlesex until his death in 1822. Following this, she moved to Hampstead with her mother, where she lived as a householder until 1844. Aikin briefly lived with her nephew in London before moving in with her niece, Anna Letitia Le Breton; the two returned to Hampstead in 1852, and remained there for the rest of Aikin's life.

Death and legacy Lucy Aikin died of influenza in 1864 at her home in Hampstead. She was buried in Hampstead. She had less than €9,000 at the time of her death. Her niece, Anna Letitia Le Breton, carried on her literary legacy after her death. Aikin's Memoirs, Miscellanies, and Letters were published in 1864, as was an edited version of her correspondence with Channing ten years later.

Selected works 1801: Poetry for Children: Consisting of Short Pieces to be Committed to Memory 1804: Louis Francois Jauffret’s The Travels of Rolando (translation from French) 1810: Epistles on Women, Exemplifying their Character and Condition in Various Ages and Nations, with Miscellaneous Poems 1811: Juvenile Correspondence or Letters, Designed as Examples of the Epistolary Style, for Children of Both Sexes 1812: Jean Gaspard Hess’s The Life of Ulrich Zwingli (translation from French) 1814: Lorimer, a Tale 1818: Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, published in several later editions 1822: Memoirs of the Court of James I 1823: Memoir of John Aikin, MD 1825: The Works of Anna Laetita Barbauld 1827: The Life of Anne Boleyn 1828: An English Lesson Book, for the Junior Classes 1833: Memoirs of the Court of Charles I 1843: The Life of Joseph Addison 1858: The Acts of Life: of Providing Food, of Providing Clothing, of Providing Shelter 1858: Holiday Stories for Young Readers Works attributed to her as Mary Godolphin 1867: Robinson Crusoe: In Words of One Syllable 1868: Sandford and Merton: In Words of One Syllable 1868: An Evening at Home: In Words of One Syllable 1869: Aesop's Fables: In Words of One Syllable 1869: The Pilgrim's Progress: In Words of One Syllable 1869: The Swiss Family Robinson: In Words of One Syllable 1870: The One Syllable Sunday Book