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

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

Life and work

Costello lived in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, near the

River Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

(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 document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

. 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

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...

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

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. 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, where ...

. 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 Miniature painting may refer to: * Miniature (illuminated manuscript), a small illustration used to decorate an illuminated manuscript * Persian miniature, a small painting on paper in the Persian tradition, for a book or album * Ottoman miniature, ...

. ''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. She died in

Boulogne sur Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

, 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 travel writers Irish travel writers Irish women non-fiction writers Irish poets Irish artists Irish women poets People from County Mayo Women travel writers 19th-century poets 19th-century Irish women writers 19th-century Irish writers Deaths from oral cancer Deaths from cancer in France

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links