Lucy Peacock

Lucy Peacock (fl. 1785–1816), was a British author, editor, translator, bookseller and publisher of children's books during the late eighteenth century. Possibly she was married or perhaps in partnership with a member of her family, since 'R. and L. Peacock', published a number of items at the Juvenile Library, No. 259, Oxford-Street during the mid-1790s.

Works

Lucy Peacock's most famous books:

• The adventures of the six princesses of Babylon in their travels to the temple of virtue: an allegory, (an adaptation for children of Spenser's Faery Queene), 1785;
• The Rambles of Fancy, or, Moral and Interesting Tales and Friendly Labours, 1786;
• Martin & James or the reward of integrity a moral tale designed for the improvement of children, (1791)
• The Knight of the Rose – (an allegorical tale), (1793);
• The Visit for a Week, – a didactic tale (1794);
• Pastorals in prose. Or, moral tales, for the amusement of youth, (c.1795);
• The little emigrant, a tale. Interspersed with moral anecdotes and instructive conversations, (1799);
• The life of a bee. Related by herself, c.1800 (adapted from Noël-Antoine Pluche, Spectacle de la nature).
• Patty Primrose, or, The parsonage house 1810.
• Friendly Labours : or tales and dramas for the amusement and instruction of youth (Brentford, 1815).
• Emily, or, The Test of Sincerity, (1816).

Five editions of The adventures of the six princesses of Babylon were 'printed for the author', the early ones by subscription. Later editions were dedicated, by permission, to Princess Mary. This was translated into German by Albrecht Wittenberg and published in Hamburg, 1787. The Visit for a Week, was her most popular work, running into ten editions by 1823. It was translated into French in 1817 by J. E. Lefebvre. She translated François Ducray-Duminil's Robinsonade, Lolotte et Fanfan, into English as 'Ambrose and Eleanor; or, the adventures of two children deserted on an uninhabited island,' 1796. This went through several editions in the UK and US. Around 1800 she translated and published A chronological abridgment of universal history.

During 1788 Lucy edited The juvenile magazine; or, An instructive and entertaining miscellany for youth of both sexes, for the publisher John Marshall. This periodical included contributions by Dorothy Kilner (M.P.) and Mary Ann Kilner(S.S.) as well as her own tales.

Sources

• J. Todd, ed., A dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660–1800 (1985)
• [D. Rivers], Literary memoirs of living authors of Great Britain, 2 (1798), 118–19.
•  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Peacock, Lucy". Dictionary of National Biography. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• English Short-title catalogue;
• A list of her publications was given in A chronological abridgment of universal history c. 1800

External links

• Lucy Peacock at Library of Congress Authorities, with 9 catalogue records