Biographies of women

[dorothean]

I just finished Elizabeth Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Brontë (published 1857) and am wondering -- is this the first major biography of a woman in English?

I can't think of any earlier ones. Memoirs and autobiographies, yes (especially by religious women), but no biographies. Although surely there were hagiographies, and Elizabeth I must have been the subject of a biography before the mid-1900s...

Maybe it's the first biography of a woman by a woman -- although certainly not the first biography by a woman, since I think it was fairly common, at least by the 19th century, for a surviving wife to write up her husband's life and edit his letters for publication.

Am I missing something obvious?

Comments

[dorothean]

I suspect neatly separated categories autobiography/biography/roman-a-clef/fiction don't rly exist before the 19th century

Yeah, that's part of the problem -- strictly defining the category seems to be important even for answering my casually-asked question! Now I want to read a History of the Biography somewhere.

a woman who was enslaved by Barbary pirates and became powerful at one of the Muslim courts (17th/18th century?)

That is reminding me of ... a bodice-ripper by Bertrice Small. Hmm.

[legionseagle]

This happened to the Empress Josephine's cousin, who reputedly ended up as the Dowager Sultana.

[spiralsheep]

Aimée du Buc de Rivéry? I know the story but I'm not sure there's any/much historical evidence after she went missing at sea as a child?

[legionseagle]

The evidence of a Western - specifically French - influence on Mehmet II is pretty strong on the evidence of the Dolmabahce palace (can't do diacritics, sorry) but where it came from, who knows?

But she was returning from boarding school, so hardly a child.

[spiralsheep]

Hee, I don't read bodice rippers but there are too many historical women for me to remember which one might have had a biography in English. In the last week I've discussed these three for starters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxelana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kösem_Sultan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliana_Dias_da_Costa

It does sound as if you need a history of biography, yes.

[dorothean]

I don't really recommend that bodice ripper, to be frank. However, I clearly need to be reading your journal. *adds*

[spiralsheep]

In fairness I should point out that two of the three weren't on my journal (or online at all, heh) and I'm just shamelessly using Black History Month to clear out my bookmarks. My journal is more usually a dull mix of nature photos, urban walks, and occasional leftie political ranting. Defriend at will, obviously. :-D