Louisa Stuart Costello wrote during the first half of the nineteenth century, producing five travel narratives, several volumes of poetry (both original and translated), numerous historical biographies, and more than twenty-five articles for a variety of noted periodicals. She wrote articles and reviews for the
Athenæum but was best known for her travel writings and historical writings on France. Louisa Stuart Costello was able to support herself and her family with earnings drawn from her writings.
Milestones
1799 LSC was born, either in
Ireland or in
Sussex, the elder of two children.
1815 LSC, still in her teens and living in
Paris after her father's death, published her first volume of poetry,
The Maid of the Cyprus Isle, and Other Poems.
By 22 May 1841 LSC published a historical novel,
The Queen's Poisoner; or, France in the Sixteenth Century: A Romance.
17 May 1856 LSC published her final poem,
The Lay of the Stork, which mingles fantasy with the serious topic of the Crimean War.
