Emily Eden
Encyclopedia
Emily Eden was an English poet and novelist who gave witty pictures of English life in the early 19th century.
Born in Westminster, Eden was the seventh daughter of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, and the great-great-great-aunt of Anthony Eden
. In her youth, she and her sister Fanny traveled to India, where her brother George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland
was in residence there as Governor-General from 1835-42. She wrote accounts of her time in India, later collected in the volume Up The Country: Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India (1867). She also wrote two very successful novels, The Semi-Detached House (1859) and The Semi-Attached Couple (1860). The latter was written in 1829 but not published until 1860. Both novels have a comic touch that critics have compared with Jane Austen
, who was Emily's favorite author. In addition, her letters were published by Violet Dickinson, a close friend of Virginia Woolf
. The letters contain some memorable comments on English public life, most famously her welcome for the new King William IV: "an immense improvement on the last unforgiving animal—this man at least wishes to make everybody happy." Emily never married and was financially well-off enough that she did not need to write but did so out of passion for the art. After the death of Caroline Lamb, mutual friends hoped she might marry Lord Melbourne. Melbourne's biographer David Cecil remarks that it might have been an excellent thing if they had married but "love is not the child of wisdom, and neither of them wanted to."
Born in Westminster, Eden was the seventh daughter of William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland, and the great-great-great-aunt of Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
. In her youth, she and her sister Fanny traveled to India, where her brother George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, GCB, PC was a British Whig politician and colonial administrator. He was thrice First Lord of the Admiralty and also served as Governor-General of India between 1836 and 1842....
was in residence there as Governor-General from 1835-42. She wrote accounts of her time in India, later collected in the volume Up The Country: Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India (1867). She also wrote two very successful novels, The Semi-Detached House (1859) and The Semi-Attached Couple (1860). The latter was written in 1829 but not published until 1860. Both novels have a comic touch that critics have compared with Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
, who was Emily's favorite author. In addition, her letters were published by Violet Dickinson, a close friend of Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
. The letters contain some memorable comments on English public life, most famously her welcome for the new King William IV: "an immense improvement on the last unforgiving animal—this man at least wishes to make everybody happy." Emily never married and was financially well-off enough that she did not need to write but did so out of passion for the art. After the death of Caroline Lamb, mutual friends hoped she might marry Lord Melbourne. Melbourne's biographer David Cecil remarks that it might have been an excellent thing if they had married but "love is not the child of wisdom, and neither of them wanted to."
External links
- Works by or about Emily Eden at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
and Google Books (scanned books original editions color illustrated)