Louisa Stuart Costello (9 October 1799 – 24 April 1870) was an Anglo-Irish author on travel and French history, said to have been born either in Ireland or

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. After having obtained a living at a young age as a painter to financially support her mother and brother, she went on to write an extensive corpus of articles, poetry, songs, novels and nonfictional books, including ''Memoirs of Eminent Englishwomen'' and ''The Maid of the Cyprus Isle'', the former of which she herself illustrated. ''The Rose Garden of Persia'', her compilation of Persian poetry, was reissued thrice in the decades after her death in 1870. She travelled extensively and was, in her day, a popular travel writer.

Life and work

Costello lived in Paris, France, near the

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(according to her death certificate). She had no true home, but went from place to place staying with friends and acquaintances. She and her brother Dudley Costello, also well known for travel writing, promoted the copying of

illuminated manuscripts An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

. By the age of 15 she had become a proficient artist and later her earnings from miniature painting were enough to support her mother and to keep her brother while he attended Sandhurst. She wrote over 100 texts, articles, poems and songs, and knew such people as

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Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

. She was also a historian, painter and novelist. Her father, Colonel James Francis Costello, died in April 1814 while fighting against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. Among Costello's published works is her self-illustrated ''Memoirs of Eminent Englishwomen'' (1844), and several popular works of poetry and travel. Her collection ''Songs of a Stranger'' was dedicated to

William Lisle Bowles William Lisle Bowles (24 September 17627 April 1850) was an English priest, poet and critic. Life and career Bowles was born at King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, where his father was vicar. At the age of 14 he entered Winchester College, whe ...

. She returned to France only after her mother sent for her in 1815 or 1818, and then lived chiefly in Paris as a miniature-painter. ''The Maid of the Cyprus Isle'' (1815) was among many books of travel, which were very popular, as were her novels, which drew chiefly on French history. Another work is ''Specimens of the Early Poetry of France'' (1835). Her book ''The Rose Garden of Persia'' (1887) contains versions of poems or poem extracts taken from Persian, illustrated with imitations of Persian illuminations. There were reissues in 1888, 1899 and 1913.British Library online catalogue. Having never married, Costello died in

Boulogne sur Mer Boulogne Sur Mer is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is in San Isidro Partido and forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban conurbation, north of Buenos Aires. It has a population of 89,046 (2001 INDEC census). The town is na ...

, France, of mouth cancer.

References

External links

* * * *
Louisa Stuart Costello papers
at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Costello, Louisa Stuart 1799 births 1870 deaths 19th-century Irish travel writers Irish women travel writers Irish women non-fiction writers 19th-century Irish artists Irish women poets Writers from County Mayo 19th-century Irish poets 19th-century Irish women writers Deaths from oral cancer in France

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links