Elizabeth Carter (1717-1806), Scholar and writer
Sitter associated with 9 portraits
Encouraged by her father, a clergyman, to study, Carter applied herself with such perseverance that she became one of the most learned Englishwoman of her time, being mistress of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, besides several modern European languages. She rendered into English De Crousaz's Examen de l'essai de Monsieur Pope sur l'homme (1739); Algarotti's Newtonianismo per le Donne; the works of Epictetus (1758) and wrote a volume of poems. An icon of virtue and learning, Carter was later sought out by aspiring women writers, including the literary critic Elizabeth Montagu, with whom she developed a lifelong friendship and helped to establish the Bluestocking Circle.
Elizabeth Carter ('Elizabeth Carter as Minerva')
by John Fayram
oil on canvas, circa 1735-1741
On display in Room 10 at the National Portrait Gallery
NPG L242
Portraits in the Characters of the Muses in the Temple of Apollo
by Richard Samuel
oil on canvas, exhibited 1779
NPG 4905
by Sir Thomas Lawrence
pastel on vellum, 1788-1789
NPG 28
Unknown sitter called Elizabeth Carter
by John Raphael Smith, published by James Birchall, after John Kitchingman
mezzotint, published 3 July 1781
NPG D4998
by Mackenzie, after Joachim Smith
stipple engraving, published 1 May 1807
NPG D13793
by Caroline Watson, after Sir Thomas Lawrence
stipple engraving, published 1808 (1788-1789)
NPG D32713
published by Dean & Munday, after Joachim Smith
stipple engraving, published 1 August 1821
NPG D13647
published by Dean & Munday, after Joachim Smith
stipple engraving, published 1 August 1821
NPG D13648
by Joseph Brown, published by Richard Bentley
line and stipple engraving, published 1861
NPG D14162
Literature, Journalism and Publishing
Scholarship and Research
Groups
Academics and scholars
Bluestocking circle
Writers and critics
Place
Kent
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