Mary Robinson

-
MR , scandalous woman and Romantic poet, was also a forceful and emotional, radical writer in many other genres: novels, scholarship, memoirs, drama, periodical essays, and translation. During the last two years of her life her level of productivity was almost frenetic, and the quality of her writing was adversely affected.
Glamorous painting of Mary Robinson, attributed to John Hoppner. She wears a black hat with wide drooping brim, adorned with white ostrich feathers which echo her big-style powdered hair. Her gown is black with lace at the low neckline and a red rose on the sleeve, echoing red drapery behind her.

Milestones

Almost certainly 27 November 1757

Mary Darby (later MR ) was born during a tempestuous night,
Robinson, Mary. Perdita: The Memoirs of Mary Robinson. Editor Levy, Moses Joseph, Peter Owen.
18
at the Minster House, College Green, Bristol: two years earlier than the date given by her published memoirs and her gravestone.
A scribbled note in the parish records of St Augustine's, Bristol, mentions 27 November 1756. MR was baptised in July 1758. Alix Nathan argued that she bent the date to cast herself as a child bride when telling her life story; Paula Byrne and Judith Pascoe believe she reported accurately: the manuscript of her memoirs gives the day but not the year.
Nathan, Alix. “Mistaken or Misled? Mary Robinson’s Birth Date”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
9
, No. 1, pp. 139-42.
139 and n1, 141
Byrne, Paula. Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical, Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson. Random House.
399-400
Robinson, Mary. “Introduction”. Mary Robinson: Selected Poems, edited by Judith Pascoe, Broadview, pp. 19-64.
63
Nathan, Alix. “Mistaken or Misled? Mary Robinson’s Birth Date”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
9
, No. 1, pp. 139-42.
139
Robinson, Mary. “Introduction”. Perdita: The Memoirs of Mary Robinson, edited by Moses Joseph Levy, Peter Owen.
xi
Byrne, Paula. Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical, Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson. Random House.
399

22 October 1796

MR issued one of her best-known works, a sequence of forty-four erotic sonnets entitled Sappho and Phaon.
Robinson, Mary. “Introduction”. Perdita: The Memoirs of Mary Robinson, edited by Moses Joseph Levy, Peter Owen.
xiii

26 December 1800

MR died in her daughter's cottage at Englefield Green, of water on the lungs.
Robinson, Mary. “Introduction”. Perdita: The Memoirs of Mary Robinson, edited by Moses Joseph Levy, Peter Owen.
xiii
Robinson, Mary. Perdita: The Memoirs of Mary Robinson. Editor Levy, Moses Joseph, Peter Owen.
151-2

1806

MR 's Poetical Works were posthumously published, edited by her daughter Maria Elizabeth .
Highfill, Philip H. et al. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press.
13: 37

Biography

Birth and Background

Almost certainly 27 November 1757

Mary Darby (later MR ) was born during a tempestuous night,
Robinson, Mary. Perdita: The Memoirs of Mary Robinson. Editor Levy, Moses Joseph, Peter Owen.
18
at the Minster House, College Green, Bristol: two years earlier than the date given by her published memoirs and her gravestone.
A scribbled note in the parish records of St Augustine's, Bristol, mentions 27 November 1756. MR was baptised in July 1758. Alix Nathan argued that she bent the date to cast herself as a child bride when telling her life story; Paula Byrne and Judith Pascoe believe she reported accurately: the manuscript of her memoirs gives the day but not the year.
Nathan, Alix. “Mistaken or Misled? Mary Robinson’s Birth Date”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
9
, No. 1, pp. 139-42.
139 and n1, 141
Byrne, Paula. Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical, Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson. Random House.
399-400
Robinson, Mary. “Introduction”. Mary Robinson: Selected Poems, edited by Judith Pascoe, Broadview, pp. 19-64.
63
Nathan, Alix. “Mistaken or Misled? Mary Robinson’s Birth Date”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
9
, No. 1, pp. 139-42.
139
Robinson, Mary. “Introduction”. Perdita: The Memoirs of Mary Robinson, edited by Moses Joseph Levy, Peter Owen.
xi
Byrne, Paula. Perdita: The Literary, Theatrical, Scandalous Life of Mary Robinson. Random House.
399

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