“[S]ome employment in the translating Way”: Economic Imperatives in Charlotte Lennox’s Career as a Translator

Abstract

Although motivated by a genuine passion for writing, money was a constant and pressing issue in Charlotte Lennox’s (1730?1804) career as a writer, as well as in her personal life. In 1747 she married Alexander Lennox, an employee of the printer William Strahan, but their union was unfortunate, especially with regards to financial matters. Lennox eventually achieved muchcoveted recognition with the success of her novel The Female Quixote, published anonymously in 1752. However, her work as a translator is an aspect of her literary career that has not been adequately researched, and indeed began as merely a way to overcome the distressing financial situation of her family. This essay examines Lennox’s activity as a translator as impelled by her perpetual need for money, within a cultural milieu that allowed her to be in contact with the most influential intellectuals of her time, including Samuel Richardson, Samuel Johnson, Giuseppe Baretti (who likely taught her Italian), and David Garrick, who produced her comedy Old City Manners at Drury Lane (1775) and assisted her in the publication of The Female Quixote. Diamonds may do for a girl, but an agent is a woman writer’s best friend Sandra Cisneros, The House on Mango Street (1984)