STRICKLAND, Agnes.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Lives of the Queens of England from the Norman Conquest; First editions of volumes VI to XII, early editions of the first volumes, finely bound. This popular Victorian publication was a milestone in the development of female historiography, the biographical tradition, and manuscript research.Elizabeth Strickland (1794-1875) collaborated with Agnes (1796-1874), but the elder sister's retiring nature ensured that the latter was the only named author of their work. They began preparations in the early 1830s with "pioneering and intensive" research into original documents in the British Museum Library, state papers, and the archives of country houses (ODNB). Agnes, as the public face of the venture, corresponded with antiquaries, scholars, and leading Catholic families, lest her strong Protestantism prevent her appreciation of the pre-Reformation queens. The first volume of the Lives was published in 1840, and with their success Agnes became a well-known figure. Today the Stricklands are recognized for "creating a tradition of female worthies" and their departure from more "'masculine' approaches to history which ignored social, cultural, and domestic issues" (ODNB).

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