Rose Roberts
Rose Roberts was a translator, poet, and writer of sermons.
Rose Roberts | |
|---|---|
 Title page of Rose Roberts' Albert, Edward and Laura, and The hermit of Priestland; three legendary tales (London: Cadell, 1783) | |
| Born | 1730 |
| Died | 1788 |
| Pen name | R. Roberts; a lady |
| Occupation | writer |
| Language | English |
| Years active | 1763–1783 |
| Parents | William Roberts (father) |
Life
She had at least one sister as well as two brothers: one, Richard, was a headmaster and the other, William, was a poet.[1] Roberts' family had roots in Abergavenny, but she herself seems to have lived in Bristol, Gloucester, then London.
Little is known of her life. She may have known Hannah More; her nieces were her friends.
Her first publication was a translation of Marmontel's Tales. Then she produced a collection of sermons, described as "pithy and conservative",[2] which were popular enough to go into a second, American edition. She wrote at least one drama, though it was not performed[2] She has been credited with "many translated and perhaps original" tales in the Lady's Magazine, 1771–1782[3]
Her Sermons singled out by Mary Scott for praise in The Female Advocate (1775), though Scott could not name her since the text was published anonymously:
And Thou, whose pen, congenial to thy breast,
Hath shown us virtue by the Graces drest. (ll. 407–408)
Works
- Translator. Select Moral Tales. Written by Jean François Marmontel. Gloucester, 1763.
- Sermons written by a lady. 1770
- Translator. Elements of the history of France. Written by Abbé Millot. 1771 (abridged translation)
- Translator. The triumph of truth; or, Memoirs of Mr. De La Villette. Translated from the French By R. Roberts. In two volumes. Written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. London: Thomas Cadell, 1775.[4]
- Translator. The Peruvian Letters, translated from the French with an additional original volume. Written by Françoise de Graffigny. London: Thomas Cadell, 1774.[5]
- Malcolm, 1779 (tragedy, unproduced)
- Albert, Edward and Laura, and the Hermit of Priestland; Three Legendary Tales. London: Cadell, 1783. (Internet Archive)
Notes
- Todd p. 269
- Blain et al. p. 911.
- Edward W. Pitcher, Literature Research Newsletter 5, 1980, quoted by Blaine et al. p. 911.
- Leprince de Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie. The triumph of truth; or, memoirs of Mr. De La Villette. Translated from the French by R. Roberts. In two volumes. ...The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 5005. Accessed 2022-07-04. (WPHP)
- de Graffigny, Françoise. The Peruvian Letters, translated from the French with an additional original volume. By R. Roberts, translator of select tales from Marmontel, Author of Sermons by a lady and translator of the History of France, from the Abbé Millot. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 8060. Accessed 2022-07-04. (WPHP)
References
- Blain, Virginia, et al., eds. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990.
- "Roberts, Rose." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2537. Accessed 2022-07-04. (WPHP)
- Todd, Janet, ed. British Women Writers: a critical reference guide. London: Routledge, 1989.