By a Lady: Elizabeth Eastlake’s Anonymous Writing

Abstract

Elizabeth Eastlake’s career as a writer was established based on textual typologies considered less erudite, such as texts for literary magazines, gallery catalogs, prefaces, technical manuals, and, to a large extent, the translation of texts. Anonymous writing was also a resource widely used by the author throughout much of her career. Through these strategies, Elizabeth articulated herself to access the erudite universe of her time. This research is interested in the correspondence that deals with Eastlake’s relationship with Germanic culture, her travels to Germany, and her establishment as an art critic through translating texts. Elizabeth Eastlake was an active scholar in the European context, but she is still little known and studied by national literature. This writer’s career can contribute to broadening perspectives on the professionalization of women in literature and writing about Art in the late nineteenth century.