Charlotte Lennox in Germany: Female Intellectual Networks and Literary Success

Abstract

The literary career of eighteenth-century British author Charlotte Lennox in her home country was a failure: her novels had mediocre sales, her scholarship was neglected, and she died in penury. In contrast, Lennox had significant success in Germany. There, she participated in female intellectual networks with German authors and translators Luise Gottsched and Meta Forkel-Liebeskind. Her play The Sister was translated as Was seyn soll, schickt sich wohl, performed twenty-three times in nine locations all over German-speaking Europe, and published in five separate editions. This demonstrates that success and failure at home did not predict failure and success abroad.