Peacock, Lucy was an 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 were:

• The adventures of the six princesses of Babylon in their travels to the temple of virtue: an allegory
  Allegory
  Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
  
  , (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
  Morality play
  The morality play is a genre of Medieval and early Tudor theatrical entertainment. In their own time, these plays were known as "interludes", a broader term given to dramas with or without a moral theme. Morality plays are a type of allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of...
  
   designed for the improvement of children, (1791)
• The Knight of the Rose - (an allegorical tale
  Allegory
  Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
  
  ), (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

Robinsonade

Robinsonade is a literary genre that takes its name from the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The success of this novel spawned enough imitations that its name was used to define a genre, which is sometimes described simply as a "desert island story"...

, 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

John Marshall (publisher)

John Marshall was a London publisher who specialized in children's literature, chapbooks, educational games and teaching schemes. He described himself as 'The Children's Printer' and referred to children as his 'young friends' He was the preeminent children's book publisher in England from about...

. This periodical included contributions by Dorothy Kilner

Dorothy Kilner

Dorothy Kilner was a prolific English writer of children's books during the late 18th century.-Life:...

 (M.P.) and Mary Ann Kilner

Mary Ann Kilner

Mary Ann Kilner was a prolific writer of children's books during the late eighteenth century. Her most famous book was The Adventures of a Pincushion c.. Together, she and her sister-in-law, Dorothy Kilner, published over thirty books...

(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.
• 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