BARBAULD, ANNA LETITIA (1743-1825)

—Poete , etc., dau. of Dr. John Aikin ( q.v. ), was b. at Kibworth-Hencourt, Leicestershire. Her f. kept an academy for boys, whose education she shared, and thus became acquainted with the cla ics. In 1773 she pub. a collection of miscellaneous poems, which was well received, and in the following year she married the Rev. R. Barbauld, a French Protestant and di enting minister, who also conducted a school near Palgrave in Suffolk. Into this enterprise Mrs. B. threw herself with great energy, and, mainly owing to her talents and reputation, it proved a succe and was afterwards carried on at Hampstead and Newing ton Green. Meantime, she continued her literary occupations, and brought out various devotional works, including her Hymns in Prose for Children . These were followed by Evenings at Home , Selections from the English E ayists , The Letters of Samuel Richardson , with a life prefixed, and a selection from the British novelists with introductory e ay.