| AdminHistory | Isabella Whitney (fl. 1566–1600) was one of the earliest female professional writers in England.She was born in Cheshire, probably in the 1540s, the second of 7 children. Her father was Geoffrey Whitney, of a notable family in the local area although not gentry. Her elder brother, also named Geoffrey, was also a writer. His best known work is his "Emblem Book" [1586]. Isabella worked as a domestic servant in London in the late 1550s and 1560s and had at least two of her poems published by Richard Jones during this time. "The Copy of a Letter" [c1567] is her earliest published work, although she is perhaps better known for "A Sweet Nosegay" [1573]. She lost her position in service around 1570 and was forced to rely on her writing to earn a living. "A Sweet Nosegay" and "Wyll and Testament" are believed to be at least partly autobiographical; they tell the story of a female poet who came from a large but not wealthy family who has lost her position as a servant, and give guidance to single women navigating life in London. Few facts are known about her later life, she may have returned to her family in Cheshire.
John Payne Collier was born in Broad Street, London, 1789, the son of John Dyer Collier (1762-1825), a writer and editor. John Payne succeeded his father as a reporter at 'The Times', c1809, and was also a student of the Middle Temple, 1811. His prospects as a lawyer were injured by his earliest separate publication, 'Criticisms on the Bar', 1819. His employment at 'The Times' ceased following a disagreement with the editor, c1821 but he continued to write, becoming a law and parliamentary reporter, dramatic and literary critic, and writer of leading articles at the 'Morning Chronicle' until 1847. He published extensively on 16th and 17th century writers.
He was secretary to the royal commission on the British Museum from 1847 to 1850 when he was granted a civil list pension and moved to Maidenhead, where he died in 1883.
His published works on Shakespeare were sometimes founded on spurious documents and he engaged in dispute with other scholars, although his output also included valuable work on less famous writers. His library was sold in 1884 and there was some evidence found at the time that he had been guilty of forgery. |
| CustodialHistory | Part of the library of Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), linguistic psychologist, founder of the Orthological Institute and originator of the language system Basic English, whose interests in language systems are reflected in the subject matter of his collection, which comprised individual manuscripts and manuscript collections dating from the 14th to the 20th century. |