Lucy Baxter
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Lucy Emily Baxter (21 January 1837 – 10 November 1902) was an English writer on art, chiefly under the pseudonym of Leader Scott. She was born at Dorchester, the third daughter of
William Barnes William Barnes (22 February 1801 – 7 October 1886) was an English polymath, writer, poet, philologist, priest, mathematician, engraving artist and inventor. He wrote over 800 poems, some in Dorset dialect, and much other work, including a co ...
, the
Dorsetshire Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , Do ...
poet, by his wife Julia Miles. She began writing at eighteen, and from the small profits of stories and magazine articles saved enough to visit
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, a cherished ambition. There she met and in 1867 married Samuel Thomas Baxter (1810–1903), a member of a family long settled in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, which then became her home. For thirty-five years she was a well-known figure in the literary and artistic life of the city, and in 1882 was elected an honorary member of the Accademia delle Belle Arti. For thirteen years her residence was the
Villa Bianca The Villa Bianca (also known as the Grunwell House) is a historic home in Punta Gorda, Florida. It is located at 2330 Shore Drive and was added to the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is ...
, outside Florence, in the direction of Vincigliata (near
Fiesole Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Sin ...
) and
Settignano Settignano is a ''frazione'' on a hillside northeast of Florence, Italy. The little '' borgo'' of Settignano carries a familiar name for having produced three sculptors of the Florentine Renaissance, Desiderio da Settignano and the Gamberini brother ...
. Among those with whom she was associated in literary research was
John Temple Leader John Temple Leader (7 May 1810 – 1 March 1903) was an English politician and connoisseur. Early life Born at his father's house, Putney Hill Villa, on 7 May 1810, he was the younger son of Mary and William Leader, a London merchant, and Whig ...
, a wealthy English resident at Florence, who owned the castle of Vincigliata. Her literary pseudonym of ‘Leader Scott’ combined the maiden surnames of her two grandmothers, Isabel Leader being her mother’s mother and Grace Scott the mother of her father. Her principal publication was ''The Cathedral Builders'' (1899 and 1900), an important examination of the whole field of
Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...
in relation to the Comacine masons. Her biographer for the '' DNB'' observed that:
though necessarily based on Merzario’s ''I Maestri Comacini'', the book shows much original observation and research and, if its arguments are not always conclusive, the international scope of the work and its wealth of illustration render it a storehouse of information and a useful introduction to an unfrequented field of speculation. The intention of the work was to attribute the entire genesis of mediaeval architecture to masonic
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
s derived, so it is supposed, from the
Roman Collegia A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaff ...
.
Apart from this work and numerous magazine articles, she published: * ''A Nook in the Apennines'', 1879. * ''Fra Bartolommeo, Albertinelli, and Andrea del Sarto'', 1881 (for the series '' Illustrated Biographies of the Great Artists''). * ''Ghiberti and Donatello'', 1882 * ''Luca della Robbia'', 1883 * ''Messer Agnolo’s Household'', 1883. * ''Renaissance of Art in Italy'', 1883 * ''A Bunch of Berries'', Bungay, 1885 * ''Sculpture, Renaissance and Modern'', 1886 * ''Life of William Barnes'', 1887 * ''Tuscan Studies and Sketches'', 1887 * ''Vincigliata and Maiano'', Florence and London, 1891 * ''The Orti Oricellari'', Florence, 1893 * ''Echoes of Old Florence'', Florence and London, 1894 * ''The Castle of Vincigliata'', Florence, 1897 * ''The Renunciation of Helen'', 1898 * '' Filippo di Ser Brunellesco'', 1901 * ''Correggio'', 1902. She translated from Italian: * ''Sir John Hawkwood'' by John Temple Leader and G. Marcotti (1889). Lucy Baxter died at the Villa Bianca near Florence on 10 November 1902; she was survived by her husband, a son, and two daughters.


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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Lucy People from Dorchester, Dorset English art historians Women art historians 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers 1902 deaths 1837 births Pseudonymous women writers British women historians 19th-century pseudonymous writers