Grace Harriet Warrack (29 March 1855 – 3 January 1932) was an editor and translator in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. She designed and commissioned the stained glass windows in High Kirk of the Free Church of Scotland, the Mound, Edinburgh.

Biography

Grace Harriet Warrack was born in Edinburgh on 29 March 1855, the third daughter of John Warrack of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

and Grace Stratton of

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, , from , "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to the geological Highland Boundar ...

. In 1901 Warrack edited an edition of ''

Revelations of Divine Love ''Revelations of Divine Love'' is a medieval book of Christian mysticism, Christian mystical devotions. Containing 87 chapters, the work was written between the 14th and 15th centuries by Julian of Norwich, about whom almost nothing is known. ...

'', by the medieval mystic

Julian of Norwich Julian of Norwich ( – after 1416), also known as Juliana of Norwich, the Lady Julian, Dame Julian or Mother Julian, was an English anchoress of the Middle Ages. Her writings, now known as ''Revelations of Divine Love'', are the earli ...

, from the Sloane 2499

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

held in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. The edition was translated into modernised English and introduced early 20th century readers to Julian's writings. The title page was illustrated by the Irish-born artist

Phoebe Anna Traquair Phoebe Anna Traquair (; 24 May 1852 – 4 August 1936) was an Irish-born artist, who achieved international recognition for her role in the Arts and Crafts movement in Scotland, as an illustrator, painter and embroiderer. Her works included larg ...

. Warrack went on to edit and translate collections of

Italian folk music Italian folk music reflects a long and diverse history. Italian unification, National unification occurred relatively late on the Italian peninsula, allowing its many hundreds of regional cultures to retain distinct musical traditions. Italy’s ...

and

French poetry French poetry () is a category of French literature. It may include Francophone literature, Francophone poetry composed outside France and poetry written in other languages of France. French prosody and poetics The modern French language does not ...

. She was awarded the

Palmes académiques Palmes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Sir Brian Palmes, English landowner and politician * Sir Guy Palmes, English politician * Brian Palmes MP * Lieutenant General Francis Palmes * Major Billie Palmes * Captain Laurence P ...

by the French Minister of Public Instruction for her interest in French literature in Scotland. Warrack worked with the

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

artist

Douglas Strachan Douglas Strachan Hon. RSA (26 May 1875, Aberdeen, Scotland – 20 November 1950) is considered the most significant Scottish designer of stained glass windows in the 20th century. He is best known for his windows at the Peace Palace in The Hagu ...

to design the windows at the High Kirk of the Free Church of Scotland, now the New College Library, University of Edinburgh. She had been impressed by Strachan's work in Aberdeen and so commissioned work for him in Edinburgh. Her intention was to provide a series of windows in memory of her family, missionary leaders and heroes, and her literary idols. The project took Strachan 20 years to complete, with Warrack spending months considering the design of each window.

Memorial

Warrack died on 3 January 1932. Her sister, Frances Warrack, organised a memorial window in Martyrs’ Kirk, St. Andrews, now the Richardson Research Library,

University of St. Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

. Designed and created by

Herbert Hendrie Herbert Hendrie (1887–1946) was an English stained glass artist. He is known for his strong simple designs with scintillating jewel-like effects. Among his best-known works are the fifteen windows for Kippen church and the tall stained glass ...

, the window depicts a large angel blessing two smaller angels, bearing the text "Bless the Lord ye his angels".

Published works

*''Revelations of Divine Love'', 1901 *''Little Flowers of a Childhood: The Record of a Child'', 1906, described in the '' Church Quarterly'' as "A touching little story of a child who died at the age of four" *''Florilegio di canti toscani: Folk Songs of the Tuscan Hills'', 1914 *''From Isles of the West to Bethlehem'', 1921 *''Une Guirlande de poésies diverses'', 1923 *''Dal cor gentil d'Italia'', 1925

References

External links

Warrack's edition of ''Revelations of Divine Love''
from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrack, Grace 1855 births 1932 deaths Writers from Edinburgh Scottish editors Scottish women editors 20th-century British translators 20th-century Scottish women

Biography

Memorial

Published works

References

Further reading

External links