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Charlotte Lennox
(1729 (?)-1804)

Active: 1749 (?)-1804 in England, Britain, Europe

(Charlotte Ramsay)

By Amanda Gilroy (University of Groningen)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: England, Britain, Europe
  • Born In: Gibraltar, Continental Europe
  • Activity: Playwright, Novelist, Poet, Translator, Editor

Life, Works and Times

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Charlotte Lennox's literary career spanned the second half of the eighteenth century, from her first volume of poetry published in 1747 to her final novel, Euphemia, published in 1790. Her most successful publication was The Female Quixote (1752), a novel which in recent years has regained something of its original popularity and cultural importance. The novel was much admired by Samuel Johnson and Samuel Richardson, both of whom actively promoted Lennox's work, by Henry Fielding, and later by Jane Austen. She seems to have charmed men more than women, counting Garrick, Goldsmith, and Reynolds (who painted her portrait) amongst her supporters, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Hester Thrale and Letitia Matilda Hawkins amongst

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First published 17 October 2002

Citation: Gilroy, Amanda. "Charlotte Lennox". The Literary Encyclopedia. 17 October 2002.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2691, accessed 9 February 2010.]