Elizabeth Montagu

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EM , eighteenth-century Bluestocking leader, is known on the one hand as an informal letter-writer, and on the other hand for ambitious critical intervention in canonicity and cultural debates, with her critical study of Shakespeare and dialogues of the dead.
Mezzotint of Elizabeth Montagu, published by John Raphael Smith in 1776 after a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds. She is seen in profile, sitting in a large upholstered chair against a backdrop of drapery, a pillar, and an outdoor landscape. Her dress and petticoat are voluminous and heavily decorated, with ruffled sleeves and a bow at the neck. Her hair is brushed back under a small bonnet perched on top of her head and tied with a dark ribbon. Below the image is a coat of arms and italic writing: "Mrs. Mon

Milestones

By 2 October 1718

Elizabeth Robinson (later EM ) was born, the elder daughter in a family of seven (surviving) brothers and two sisters.
Until recently EM 's year of birth was mistakenly supposed to be 1720.
Rizzo, Betty. Companions Without Vows: Relationships Among Eighteenth-Century British Women. University of Georgia Press.
351
Rizzo, Betty. Companions Without Vows: Relationships Among Eighteenth-Century British Women. University of Georgia Press.
351

April 1769

In a counterblast to Voltaire , EM published, anonymously, An Essay on Shakespear.
Blunt, Reginald, and Elizabeth Montagu. Mrs Montagu, "Queen of the Blues", Her Letters and Friendships from 1762 to 1800. Constable.
1: 217-18

25 August 1800

EM died at Montagu House in Portman Square, London.
Myers, Sylvia Harcstark. The Bluestocking Circle: Women, Friendship, and the Life of the Mind in Eighteenth-Century England. Clarendon.
269
Blunt, Reginald, and Elizabeth Montagu. Mrs Montagu, "Queen of the Blues", Her Letters and Friendships from 1762 to 1800. Constable.
2: 346

Biography

Birth and Family

By 2 October 1718

Elizabeth Robinson (later EM ) was born, the elder daughter in a family of seven (surviving) brothers and two sisters.
Until recently EM 's year of birth was mistakenly supposed to be 1720.
Rizzo, Betty. Companions Without Vows: Relationships Among Eighteenth-Century British Women. University of Georgia Press.
351
Rizzo, Betty. Companions Without Vows: Relationships Among Eighteenth-Century British Women. University of Georgia Press.
351

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