Elizabeth Kent (c. 1791–1861) was a nineteenth century British writer on botanical and horticultural matters.
Life
The younger sister of Marianne Kent, the future wife of
Leigh Hunt, the English critic and writer, it was Bess who initially drew Hunt into the family circle through her youthful admiration for his work. Through her brother-in-law, Hunt, for whom she acted as agent and
amanuensis, she belonged to a circle (the Cockney School) of contemporary writers including
Byron,
Coleridge,
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ( , ; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of science fiction# ...
, and
John Clare. Her closeness to Hunt and her ambivalent position in her sister's household led to much contemporary gossip: it may be significant that it was only after her breach with the household in 1822 that Bess was able to emerge as a writer in her own right.
Kent never married.
Works
Her best known work, ''Flora Domestica'', quoting extensively from Hunt and Keats, was published anonymously in 1823, and incorrectly attributed to
Henry Phillips by
F. W. Burbidge in his work on ''
Narcissus'' (1875). Other works include ''New Tales for Young Readers'' (1822)
and ''Sylvan Sketches'' (1825). She wrote for the ''
Magazine of Natural History'', taught botany and wrote books for children.
See also
*
Benjamin Robert Haydon
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
''Sylvan Sketches, or a Companion to the Park and the Shrubbery, with Illustrations from the Works of the Poets''. London, Taylor and Hessey, 1825*
also available as pdf Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Elizabeth
1790s births
1861 deaths
19th-century British writers
19th-century British women writers
Amanuenses
British botanical writers