Perdita woman: Esther Inglis

Biography

Esther Inglis, calligrapher, was born in 1570/1, probably in London. Her parents, Nicolas Langlois and Marie Presot, were French Huguenots who took refuge in England in about 1569, later settling in Edinburgh. Their daughter Esther seems always to have used the surname 'Inglis', the Scottish form of Langlois. In 1596, Esther married Bartholomew Kello, and by 1604 had moved with him to London. They had six children, of whom four lived to adulthood. Kello, a clergyman, held a church living in Essex between 1607 and 1614. In 1615 the family returned to Edinburgh, and Esther died at Leith in August 1624.

Esther Inglis is regarded as one of the finest calligraphers to have worked in England or Scotland during the early modern period. She probably learnt her skills from her mother, who was an accomplished scribe. Fifty-nine of Inglis's manuscripts are known to survive, most dedicated to contemporary English, Scottish and French dignitaries such as the Earl of Essex, Anthony Bacon, Robert Sidney, Lucy Countess of Bedford, Robert Cecil, the Earl of Argyll, the Duke of Lennox, the Duc de Rohan and Catherine de Bourbon. She also made dedications to members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth, King James, Henry Prince of Wales and the future Charles I. Inglis's manuscripts typically consist of elaborately penned religious texts, frequently decorated with floral or animal patterns. She was accomplished in the use of many varieties of script, and also practised virtuosic effects such as mirror-writing and small-scale transcription (letters of c. 1 mm).

It is likely that Inglis's manuscripts were produced both for financial and religious motives. She does not seem to have worked to commission, but rather presented her work to chosen patrons in hopes of financial reward. Her selection of religious texts - the Bible in the Geneva translation; the French poems Discours de la Foy, Pierre Du Val's De la Grandeur de Dieu and Pybrac's Quatrains - was no doubt designed to appeal to her co-religionists both in Britain and in France. Since she died in debt, it seems likely that her patrons were less generous than she had hoped.

Biography by Gillian Wright.


Bodleian Library: MS Bodl. 987
Transcription by Esther Inglis of Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac's Quatrains (21 June 1617)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Full entry.


Royal Library: Thott 323
Transcription by Esther Inglis of Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac's Quatrains (September 1606)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Full entry.


Newberry Library: Wing MS ZW 645.K29
Proverbs ( 1 January 1606)
(scribe) Esther Inglis


Newberry Library: Wing MS ZW 645.K292
Les Quatrains du Sieur de Pybrac (1607)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)


British Library: Add. MS 22606
Transcription by Esther Inglis of Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac's Quatrains (27 June, 1617)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Full entry.


British Library: Add. MS 19633
Transcription by Esther Inglis of Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac's Quatrains (1 January, 1615)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Full entry.


National Library of Scotland: MS Acc. 11821
Transcription by Esther Inglis of Rudolphus Gualterus's verse Paraphrases of the Book of Matthew (26 January 1607)
Esther Inglis (Scribe and artist)
Full entry.


British Library: MS Royal 17.D.XVI
Christian Emblems (1624)
Esther Inglis ( Transcriber)
Short entry.


British Library: Add. MS 27927
Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon (1599)
Esther Inglis ( Transcriber)
Short entry.


British Library: MS Harl. 4324
Les Quatrains de Guy de Faur (1614)
Esther Inglis ( Transcriber)
Short entry.


British Library: MS Sloane 987
The Psalter (1586)
Esther Inglis ( Transcriber)
Short entry.


Bodleian Library: MS Bodl. 990
Proverbs ( 1599)
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Berlin State Library: MS Lat. oct. 14
Tetrasticha selecta historiae Geneseos (1606)
(Scribe)Esther Inglis


Christ Church (Oxford) Library: MS 180
Psalms ( 1599)
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Royal Library: Gl. Kgl. Saml. 3380
Psalms (1624)
(Scribe) Esther Inglis


Edinburgh University Library: MS Laing III. 249
Treatise (1605)
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Edinburgh University Library: MS Laing III. 439
Les Quatrains du Sieur de Pybrac ()
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Edinburgh University Library: MS Laing III. 440
Livret traittant de la Grandeur de Dieu ()
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Edinburgh University Library: MS Laing III. 522
Calligraphic manuscript in various languages ()
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Edinburgh University Library: MS Laing III. 75
A Treatise of preparation to the Holy Supper (1608)
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Folger Library: MS V.a.91
Octonaries upon the vanity and inconstancy of the world (1600)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Folger Library: MS V.a.92
Octonaries upon the vanity and inconstancy of the world (1607)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Folger Library: MS V.a.93
Psalms (1599)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Folger Library: MS V.a.94
Psalms (1608)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Houghton Library: MS Typ. 212
Psalms (1606)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Houghton Library: MS Typ. 347
Quatrains de Guy de Faur (1615)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Houghton Library: MS Typ. 428
Argumenta singulorum capitum Geneseos per Tetrasticha (1608)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Houghton Library: MS Typ. 428.1
Quotations from Psalms and Proverbs. (1605)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Houghton Library: MS Typ. 49
Synopsis of the Bible (1615)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Huntington Library: MS HM 26068
Discours de la Foy (1591)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Pierpont Morgan Library: MS 2149
Ecclesiasticus (1607)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


Pierpont Morgan Library: MS W. 72
Octonaires sur la vanite et inconstance du monde (1615)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


National Library of Scotland: MS Acc. 7633
Calligraphic manuscript ()
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


National Library of Scotland: MS 20498
Ecclesiastes and Lamentations (1602)
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


National Library of Scotland: MS 2197
Calligraphic display manuscript ()
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


National Library of Scotland: MS 8874
Psalms (1615)
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.


Bibliotheque Nationale: MS francais 14849
Proverbs (1601)
(Scribe)Esther Inglis


National Archives of Scotland: Dep. GD 18/4508
Cinquante Octonaires (1607)
Esther Inglis (Scribe)
Short entry.


National Library of Sweden: Cod. Holm. A. 781
Psalms (1612)
(Scribe)Esther Inglis
Short entry.


Royal Library, Windsor Castle: No reference.
Cinquante Octonaires sur la vanite et inconstance de monde (1607)
Esther Inglis ( Scribe)
Short entry.