Charlotte Lennox

This article is about an author and poet. For the Duchess of Richmond, see Charlotte Lennox, Duchess of Richmond.
A small miniature portrait painted in black and white of Charlotte Lennox
"Mrs. Charlotte Lennox," miniature portrait painted by John Smart in 1777 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 491221).

A black and white portrait of Charlotte Lennox.
Engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi after Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1793 (National Portrait Gallery, D13802).

Charlotte Lennox, née Ramsay (c. 1729[1] – 4 January 1804), was a Scottish author and a literary and cultural critic, whose publishing career flourished in London. Best known for her novel The Female Quixote (1752), she was frequently praised for her genius and literary skill. As a result, Sir Joshua Reynolds painted her portrait and she was featured in "The Nine Living Muses of Great Britain" in 1778. Samuel Johnson declared her superior to all other female writers, and Henry Fielding said that she "excelled Cervantes." Her pioneering study of Shakespeare's source material is still cited and her magazine (1760–1761) is the focus of "The Lady's Museum Project."[2]

  1. ^ Carlile, Susan (1 December 2004). "Charlotte Lennox's Birth Date and Place". Notes and Queries. 51 (4): 390–392. doi:10.1093/nq/510390. ISSN 1471-6941.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).