Frances Brooke

For the lady-in-waiting, married name Frances Brooke, see Frances Newton, Lady Cobham.
Frances Brooke

Frances Brooke

Frances Brooke by Catherine Read
Born 12 January 1724 (1724-01-12)
Claypole, Lincolnshire, England
Died 23 January 1789 (1789-01-24) (aged 65)
Sleaford, England
Other names Moore, Frances
Occupation English-Canadian writer

Frances Brooke (née Moore; 12 January 1724 – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator.

Biography

Frances Moore was born in Claypole, Lincolnshire, the daughter of a clergyman. By the late 1740s, she had moved to London, where she embarked on her career as a poet and playwright. Under the pseudonym of Mary Singleton, Spinster, she also edited thirty-seven issues of her own weekly periodical, Old Maid (1755–56).

In 1756 she married Rev. Dr. John Brooke, rector at Colney, Norfolk. The following year he left for Canada as a military chaplain while his wife remained in England. In 1763 she wrote her first novel, The History of Lady Julia Mandeville. In the same year Brooke sailed to Quebec, Canada to join her husband, who was then chaplain to the British garrison there. In autumn 1768 she returned to London, where she continued her career.

Brooke was well-known in London's literary and theatrical communities. In 1769 she published The History of Emily Montague, the first novel written in Canada. This brief stint in North America has caused some critics to label her "the first novelist in North America." Evidence of Brooke's wisdom and experience of life and its vicissitudes is apparent in her writing. One exemplary observation reflects that "It is a painful consideration, my dear, that the happiness or misery of our lives are generally determined before we are proper judges of either."

Also in 1769, Frances Brooke's novel The History of Emily Montague was used in the earliest Oxford English Dictionary citation for the hyperbolic or figurative sense of "literally"; the sentence from the novel used was, "He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literally to feed among the lilies."[1] This citation was also used in the OED's 2011 revision.[1]

Death

Brooke died in Sleaford, England, aged 65.

Works

Studies of Brooke's Works

Note: most entries below are from the Selected bibliography: Frances Moore Brooke by Jessica Smith and Paula Backscheider, which additionally offers references to editions of Frances Brooke's works as well as full-length critical monographs and biographical studies of the author.

Legacy

Venusian crater named in her honour

In 1985, the International Astronomical Union's Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature honoured Frances Moore Brooke by naming a crater after her on the surface of the planet Venus. Brooke Crater is located at latitude 48.4° north, longitude 296.6° west, northeast of Guinevere Planitia. Its diameter is approximately 22.9 km.

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 "Language Log » Frances Brooke, destroyer of English (not literally)". languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu. Retrieved 22 January 2014.

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Frances Brooke.
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