Happy Unfortunate - E Boyd - Frontispiece

Elizabeth Boyd (c. 1710 – 1745) was an English writer and poet who supported her family by writing novels, poetry, a play, and a periodical. She also wrote under the

noms de plume A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Louisa or Eloisa. Boyd is one of three known members of the Shakespeare Ladies Club..

Life and work

Little is known of her birth or career. From her writings it can be gleaned that she came from a large family who had supported the Stuart cause. Her father enjoyed

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

favour, her mother is said to have been worn down by the care of many children. It was to support her ailing mother that she took up writing. The subscription lists to her work contain many aristocrats which suggests the family had been well connected but had fallen on hard times.Lonsdale, Roger (ed) (1990). ''Eighteenth Century Women Poets: An Oxford Anthology''. Oxford University Press. page 134. . She first published poetry under the name of Louisa, ''Variety:A Poem'' (1727) and ''Verses on the King's Birthday'' (1730). Her first major work was a novel entitled ''The Happy Unfortunate; Or The female page''. This appeared in 1732 and was reprinted in 1737. It is a masquerade romance in which the lead female characters hide behind masks for most of the story. With money from this she set up a

stationers Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

shop in George Court, Princes Street, London, near

Leicester Fields Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, ...

The ''Humorous Miscellany'' of 1733 contains her best known poem ''On the Death of an Infant of five Days old; being a beautiful but abortive Birth.'' She wrote a play ''Don Sancho, Or The Students Whim'', (1739), which was never performed. However, ''Don Sancho'' was given a reading in the green room of

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

. ''Don Sancho'' takes place in an Oxford College garden and features the ghosts of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

. At the end of the play, after the ghosts return to the afterlife,

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

creates a monument to Shakespeare; this ending is why many Shakespearean scholars believe Boyd was involved in the Shakespeare Ladies Club and, specifically, the club's fundraising efforts for the Shakespeare memorial statue in

Poet's Corner Poets' Corner is a section of the southern transept of Westminster Abbey in London, England, where many poets, playwrights, and writers are buried or commemorated. The first poet interred in Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer in 1400. Willia ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. ''The Snail: Or the Lady's Lucubrations'' (1745) was an ambitious project to produce a regular periodical aimed at aristocratic Ladies. Only one volume was produced and there is an indication in her writing that her health was failing. It contains veiled attacks on the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they a ...

of Marlborough, who twenty years previously had engaged in Jacobite intrigue but had abandoned their support in favour of what many saw as their own career advancement.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Happy-Unfortunate; Or, the Female-Page: a Novel, Etc''

Periodicals

* ''The Snail: Or The Lady's Lucubrations. Being entertaining letters between a lady at St. James's, and her friend at Dover, on new and curious subjects''

Plays

* ''Don Sancho, Or The Students Whim''

Poems

* ''On the Death of an Infant of five Days old; being a beautiful but abortive Birth'' * ''Truth, a poem : Address'd to the Right Honourable William Lord Harrington'' * ''Variety: A Poem, 1727'' * ''Verses Congratulatory, on the Happy Marriage of the Right Honourable the Lady Diana Spencer with the Lord John Russel'' * ''The humorous miscellany; or, riddles for the beaux. Humbly inscribed to the ... Earl of Cardigan''

References

External links

Works by Elizabeth Boyd

* ''On the Death of an Infant of five Days old; being a beautiful but abortive Birth'' by Elizabeth Boyd, 1733
Poem in full at Poetry Nook website
Accessed April 2016 * ELOISA, pseud. ''The Snail: or the Lady's Lucubrations. Being Entertaining Letters between a Lady at St. James's, and Her Friend at Dover, on New and Curious Subjects. by Eloisa. (to Be Continued Monthly.)''. London: E. Boyd, 1745. Print
Available through WorldCat
* Boyd, Elizabeth. ''Don Sancho Or, the Students Whim, a Ballad Opera of Two Acts, with Minerva's Triumph, a Masque''. New York: Garland, 1974. Print
Available through WorldCat.
* BOYD, Elizabeth. ''The Female Page: a Genuine and Interesting History Relating to Some Persons of Distinction, Etc''. London: Olive Payne, 1737
Available through WorldCat
* Boyd, Elizabeth. ''Admiral Haddock: Or, the Progress of Spain. a Poem''. Farmington Hills, Mich: Thomson Gale, 2005. Internet resource
Available through WorldCat
* Boyd, Elizabeth. ''Variety: a Poem, 1727''. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Women Writers Project, 2001. Internet resource
Available through WorldCat
* Boyd, Elizabeth. ''Verses Congratulatory, on the Happy Marriage of the Right Honourable the Lady Diana Spencer with the Lord John Russel. by Elizabeth Boyd''. Farmington Hills, Mich: Thomson Gale, 2005
Available through WorldCat
* Boyd, Elizabeth. ''The Humorous Miscellany; Or, Riddles for the Beaux. Humbly Inscribed to the ... Earl of Cardigan. by E B''. Farmington Hills, Mich: Thomson Gale, 2005
Available through WorldCat.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, Elizabeth 1710s births 1745 deaths 18th-century English poets 18th-century English novelists 18th-century English dramatists and playwrights 18th-century English women writers 18th-century English writers English women poets English women novelists English women dramatists and playwrights