Elizabeth Montagu

Natasha Aleksiuk Duquette (Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College)

Ed. by Janet Todd, University of Cambridge
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

Born 2 Oct 1718
Died 25 Aug 1800
Activity c. 1755-1800

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Essayist
Literary Critic/ Historian

Resources

Elizabeth Montagu is best known as “the Queen of the Blues”, for her hosting of “bluestocking circle” gatherings. This circle included aesthetic theorist and politician Edmund Burke, classicist Elizabeth Carter, actor David Garrick, and conduct book writer Hester Chapone. Montagu’s gatherings functioned as British salons, within which she was able to encourage a younger generation of women writers, including poets like Helen Maria Williams.

Elizabeth was born at York on October 2, 1718, to Matthew Robinson, a landed Yorkshire squire, and Elizabeth Robinson (née Drake), an heiress to property in Kent and Cambridgeshire. She had seven brothers and one younger sister. In 1727, Elizabeth’s mother inherited her …

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1280 words

Citation: Duquette, Natasha Aleksiuk. "Elizabeth Montagu". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 March 2004 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3156, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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