Carter, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Carter
16 December 1717 - 19 February 1806

English poet and translator, early figure of female literary achievement in British culture (yes, one of the "Bluestockings"); sometimes associated, albeit rather loosely, with the Graveyard School on the basis of a few elegiac verses. (As a female member of the Graveyard School, Carter would, of course, not be one of the "Boneyard Boys" but a — perhaps the only? — Graveyard Grrrl. (And yes, I know that someone undoubtedly will construe that as a sexist, offensive label, since she was a very intelligent and highly self-educated—at great personal cost—woman, but jeez, sometimes a person just has to alliterate....)

Sites:
Biographical note a LitGothic etext
A LitGothic exclusive. [PDF]
Biographical note
[Judith Hawley, Royal Holloway U of London; Literary Encyclopedia]
Brief biographical note
[Wikipedia]
Brief biographical note
[Columbia Encyclopedia, Bartleby]
Brief biographical note a LitGothic etext
[John W. Cousins, A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910]
The Bluestockings: Mrs Elizabeth Carter
Good discussion of Carter in historical-cultural context, emphasizing her status as a "Bluestocking." [Cambridge History of English and American Literature(1907–21); Bartleby]
Portraits
[National Portrait Gallery]


Etexts:
"On the Death of a Friend. 1763" [1763, not surprisingly]  [PDF] a LitGothic etext

"Elegy on the Death of Miss Sutton" [1768] [PDF] a LitGothic etext

"Epitaph on a Young Lady" [1735]
[Kathleen Nulton Kemmerer; The Penn State Archive of Women's Poetry to 1800]

"Ode to Melancholy" [1739] [PDF] a LitGothic etext

"Ode [With restless agitations tost]" [1739] [PDF] a LitGothic etext

"Thoughts at Midnight" [1739]  [PDF] a LitGothic etext




Ebooks:
Memoirs of the Life of Mrs Elizabeth Carter this link opens a new window
By Montague Pennington, Carter's nephew, this volume also includes Carter's poems and other writings; published in 1807. [GoogleBooks]

"Elizabeth Carter."