Lucy Aikin's Biography

Warrington Academy in 1757 (Wikipedia)

Early Life

Born in Warrington Acadmy on November 6, 1781, into a family of influential Dissenters, Lucy Aikin was an eminent English writer, biographer and a children’s writer. She was the youngest child of John Aikin, a surgeon and popular writer himself, who was an important influence on his daughter and her work. Lucy Aikin’s aunt Anna Letitia Barbauld was also an eminent writer and became popular through her literary works and letters, and she became an integral part of Lucy Aikin’s life and was also an integral influence on her, along with her father.

Although she went to a school for a few months, Aikin was home-schooled majority of her life by her mother, and learned English, Italian, French as well as Latin. She excelled in history and literature, which prompted her to begin writing when she was just seventeen, with the encouragement of her father and aunt. She credits her father John Aikin for her interest in history and writing biographies and stated that she is she was lucky to have her father for guidance (Epistles, 17). Aikin wrote many letters throughout her life to other important authors, and many of her letters became as popular as her literary works after her death. From her letters, it can be noted that she was friendly and entertaining by nature and helped her fellow writers as much as she could. Aikin died in 1864 of influenza and was 84 years of age at the time after enjoying a “diverse literary career” (Epistles, 25). Most of the information found on Lucy Aikin delves into her works and personal life that touches on her relationship with her aunt and father, but it is her personal letters that reveal her personality to her readers.

Epistles on Women, courtesy of University of Minnesota Library Web

Feminism and Epistles

Growing up in a learned household where there was an emphasis on the importance of education, Aikin matured into what the modern world would describe as a devout feminist. She stood up for women’s rights, produced literary works that highlighted the faults of patriarchy and mistreatment of women, and supported many women authors that further produced their own eminent works, such as Catherine Macaulay (Enlightenment Feminist Project). These characteristics would certainly make Aikin a celebrated feminist of the eighteenth century. Her most famous work that would express her feminism is her long poem, Epistles on Women, which rewrites western history from a feminist point of view and brings forth the inequality between the two sexes across the globe. There are four Epistles, and each introduces the poem with context in an “Argument” (Epistles 26).

Aikin’s feminism differed from the feminists that came before her, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, who argues that both sexes demand equal respect and advocated for female literacy. Aikin leans towards what we would call “radical feminism” (Epistles 27) and asserts that women bear the heavier weight of the world as they give birth, and should be considered superior to their counter-sex, whereas Wollstonecraft still believed in traditional femininity and did not believe in women's superiority. Aikin believed that women possess moral superiority over men and criticizes the behaviour of the male species and how they use their strength to force women to submit unfairly. She also dedicates her Epistles to her dear friend Anne Wakefield, who acts as her muse, hinting at a “directive voice rather than [a] heavenly voice” (Epistles 30).

Memoirs of the Court of QUeen Elizabeth, courtesy of University of California Libraries

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcourtof01aikiiala/page/n7/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/memoirsofcourtof01aikiiala/page/n7/mode/2up

Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth

Although Lucy Aikin wrote poems and children's literature, she found respect and eminence from her lengthy historial memoirs, beginning from Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth in 1818. She also wrote Memoirs of the Court of James the First in 1822 and then Memoirs of the Court of Charles the First in 1833. She was, in fact, responsible for the development of the "court history" genre (Epistles, 19), which highlights the importance of her historical work. In these memoirs, the mannerisms, morals and the aristocracy of the royals are written in great detail, and Aikin discusses the intricate details of their lives to such an extent that the texts become a form of "domestic history", especially for her memoir on Queen Elizabeth. Combining her passion for history with her feminist views, Aikin provided great importance to Queen Elizabeth's impact on "the political, social, literary, and artistic culture of the day" (Epistles, 19). Her memoirs were widely popular and created room for authors such as Elizabeth Benger to write historical memoirs with such depth and interest. Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth not only delves into her reign as an influential queen, but also describes her personal life, manners and opinions (WPHP).Her memoirs were all reprinted multiple times throughout the nineteenth century. Aikin’s style of writing is engaging and interesting, and her memoir about Queen Elizabeth  Continuing with her feminist ideas, she did not continue to write about Charles I or Cromwell and is said to be “[disapproving] of both arbitrary royal actions and scheming and ambitious court favourites, which highlights her morals and feminist ideas.

Aikin's memoirs not only describe the lives of the royals, but discuss their political and feminist impact as well as she calls out the abuse of power in her texts (Epistles, 21). Her memoirs combines the public knowledge of these powerful figures with the small details of their daily lives and political decisions. ODNB points out that her work integrated the literary and artistic side of 18^th century and focused largely on women historians as she wrote memoirs of her colleagues and friends Elizabeth Benger, and Mary Berry. She continued to promote the idea that female history was worth writing about and was an important part of history. 

Aikin's Correspondance with William Ellery Channing, taken from The Library of Congress 

https://archive.org/details/correspondenceof00chan_1

Letters to Benger and Channing

Aikin’s letters are considered highly important, perhaps even as much as her formal publications. They not only give the reader an insight into her private life but shows the concealed aspects of publications and her relations with other writers. Aikin’s correspondance, as mentioned in the ODNM, "included members of her family, dissenting leaders on both sides of the Atlantic, and both male and female writers".

Her most famous correspondence, with the American author William Ellery Channing, was compiled by her niece Anna Letitia Breton, similar to how Aikin edited the works of her aunt Anna Letitia Barbauld. William Ellery Channing was an American author and was a leading Unitarianism theologist. He was also a excellent public speaker and delivered passionate sermons, Especially his famous “Baltimore Sermon”. Aikin and Channing, soon after their initial correspondence from 1826, became dear friends and expressed their views about theology, literature and politics to each other until 1842 (Breton, Preface). The letters were shared by William Henry Channing to Mrs. Le Breton for publishing, and William Channing considered Lucy Ain "as one of his most confidential European friends" (Correspondance, 5). This showed their close relationship and brings forth the Aikin's importance as an author and historian across the Western world. Through their correspondance, it is evident that the two respected each others' political and religious ideologies. They often discussed other authors, especially ones Aikin had written abut, such as Milton and Barbauld. They also shared mutual love for history as they corresponded quite a bit about topics such as : "History of England", "Remarks on Nepolean" and "Guizot's English Revolution". More of her letters are included in the text Memoirs, Miscellanies and Letters of the Late Lucy Aikin.

In the letter from Upcott’s album, Aikin writes to her friend Elizabeth Benger about personal and professional business. The letter includes details about Benger’s book on John Tobin, and then continues to chat about their friend Anne (perhaps Anne Wakefield) and how she could not have been good company to be around with a newborn with her. It appears that Aikin’s letters show various sides of her personality that we would not get to see otherwise, such as her reaction towards Anne’s baby. She appeared to be impatient with her friend Anne’s young baby. This also reveals her rection to children and perhaps she has bonded with Benger, who was also unmarried and did not have any children.  Aikin says to Benger: “It is vexatious enough that Anne will just miss her; but in fact, her poor little squalling baby will not allow her to be good company to anybody at present.” (Letter by Lucy Aikin). Another important aspect of this letter is the familiarity with which Lucy Aikin talks about others, such as Mrs. Fletcher and to Benger herself, which shows her closeness to the women and depicts her social personality. She appeared to be a people’s person, and likely built important connections based on this trait.

Aikin lived the entirety of her life with her family – first her parents and then her niece Anna Letitia Breton. She dedicated her life to her literary and social work, and her legacy was continued by her niece (Wikipedia).