Rose Roberts
{{Infobox Writer
| name = Rose Roberts
| image = Title page of Roberts' Three Legendary Tales.jpg
| image_size =
| alt = Title page of Roberts' Albert, Edward and Laura
| caption = Title page of Rose Roberts' Albert, Edward and Laura, and The hermit of Priestland; three legendary tales (London: Cadell, 1783)
| pseudonym = R. Roberts; a lady
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 1730
| birth_place =
| death_date = 1788
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| language = English
| occupation = writer
| period =
| parents = William Roberts (father)
| relatives =
| years_active = 1763–1783
| portaldisp = yes
}}
Rose Roberts (1730-1788) was a translator, poet, and writer of sermons.
Life
She had at least one sister as well as two brothers: one, Richard, was a headmaster and the other, William, was a poet.Todd p. 269 Roberts' family had roots in Abergavenny, but she herself seems to have lived in England, in Bristol, Gloucester, then London.
Little is known of her life. She may have known Hannah More as her nieces were her friends.
Her first publication was a translation of Marmontel's Tales. Then she produced a collection of sermons, described as "pithy and conservative", which were popular enough to go into a second, American edition. She wrote at least one drama, though it was not performedBlain et al. p. 911. She has been credited with "many translated and perhaps original" tales in the Lady's Magazine, 1771–1782.Edward W. Pitcher, Literature Research Newsletter 5, 1980, quoted by Blaine et al. p. 911.
Her Sermons are singled out by Mary Scott for praise in The Female Advocate (1775), though Scott could not credit Roberts by name since the text was published anonymously:
And Thou, whose pen, congenial to thy breast, Hath shown us virtue by the Graces drest. (ll. 407–408)
Works
- Translator. Select Moral Tales. Written by Jean François Marmontel. Gloucester, 1763.
- Sermons written by a lady. 1770
- Translator. Elements of the history of France. Written by Abbé Millot. 1771 (abridged translation)
- Translator. The triumph of truth; or, Memoirs of Mr. De La Villette. Translated from the French By R. Roberts. In two volumes. Written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. London: Thomas Cadell, 1775.Leprince de Beaumont, Jeanne-Marie. The triumph of truth; or, memoirs of Mr. De La Villette. Translated from the French by R. Roberts. In two volumes. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 5005. Accessed 2022-07-04. ([https://womensprinthistoryproject.com/title/5005 WPHP])
- Translator. The Peruvian Letters, translated from the French with an additional original volume. Written by Françoise de Graffigny. London: Thomas Cadell, 1774.de Graffigny, Françoise. The Peruvian Letters, translated from the French with an additional original volume. By R. Roberts, translator of select tales from Marmontel, Author of Sermons by a lady and translator of the History of France, from the Abbé Millot. The Women's Print History Project, 2019, title ID 8060. Accessed 2022-07-04. ([https://womensprinthistoryproject.com/title/8060 WPHP])
- Malcolm, 1779 (tragedy, unproduced)
- Albert, Edward and Laura, and the Hermit of Priestland; Three Legendary Tales. London: Cadell, 1783. ([https://archive.org/details/albertedwardlaur00robe/page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive])
Notes
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References
- Blain, Virginia, et al., eds. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990.
- "Roberts, Rose." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 2537. Accessed 2022-07-04. ([https://womensprinthistoryproject.com/person/2537 WPHP])
- Todd, Janet, ed. British Women Writers: a critical reference guide. London: Routledge, 1989.
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Category:18th-century English writers
Category:18th-century English women writers