Planta frederica (1 risultati)

Wholly manuscript, clearly legible, text within a red-ruled frame, offsetting from the corners onto the first and last couple of leaves, but very good internally, ff. 28, [1], 8vo, contemporary half smooth tan calf and marbled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt edges; a little worn, with the corners bumped and the front hinge starting, good. A primer on the historical background to parts of the Old Testament, in neat manuscript, by the governess to the daughters of George III and Queen Charlotte, Frederica Planta (1750-1778). Planta was the learned daughter of Swiss émigrés; her father Andreas was assistant librarian at the British Museum, and her brother Joseph became Principal Librarian (and was therefore de facto director of the Museum) for the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The limitations of her sex dictated teaching as one of very few professional options, and historians have tended to characterise Planta as the typical meek governess, even going so far as to suggest that when she died (aged just twenty eight) and was replaced by her sister Margaret, no one in the royal household noticed the change. This manuscript goes some way to rescue Planta from this unfair obscurity, demonstrating her understanding of ancient Near and Middle Eastern history and the depth of her Biblical learning. Evidently intended as a guide to the Bible's historical context, presumably for the use of her pupils, the volume isolates and indexes the historical background to the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, beginning with 'the History of Samuel and Saul and the beginning of that of David', and ending with the administrations of Ezra and Nehemiah. It closes with a list of contemporary kings. (ESTC T146806).…