Constantia Grierson

Constantia Grierson [née Crawley] (c. 1705 – 2 December 1732), was an editor, poet, and classical scholar from County Kilkenny, Ireland. She was married to the Dublin printer and publisher George Grierson.

Life
classical scholar, whose maiden name has been doubtfully stated to have been Phillipps (Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. i. 341), was born apparently at Kilkenny. Her parents seem to have been in narrow circumstances, but her father is said to have first encouraged her love of study. In her eighteenth year she began to study obstetrics under Dr. Van Lewen, a Dublin physician of repute, father of Mrs. Letitia Pilkington. She soon afterwards married George Grierson, an eminent Dublin printer, who obtained from Lord Carteret, when lord-lieutenant, a patent as king's printer in Ireland, chiefly, it is conjectured, owing to Carteret's admiration of Mrs. Grierson's attainments. Mrs. Pilkington, who knew Mrs. Grierson personally, writes that she was mistress of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French, understood mathematics well, and wrote elegantly in verse and prose. Mrs. Grierson was on intimate terms with Dean Swift, Thomas Sheridan, and Patrick Delany, D.D. A poem by her was included by Mrs. Barber [q. v.] in her volume of ‘Poems on Several Occasions,’ London, 1734. Mrs. Grierson edited Latin classics published by her husband. Of these the principal were ‘Terence,’ 1727, and ‘Tacitus,’ 1730. The first was inscribed to Robert, son of Lord Carteret, viceroy of Ireland, and her edition of ‘Tacitus’ was dedicated in elegant Latin to Carteret himself. Dr. Harwood, the classical bibliographer, pronounced Mrs. Grierson's ‘Tacitus’ to be ‘one of the best edited books ever delivered to the world.’ Mrs. Grierson is also stated to have written several English poems, of which copies have not been preserved. Her learning and virtue were referred to in a poem by Henry Brooke (1703?-1783) [q. v.], author of ‘Gustavus Vasa.’ She was engaged on an edition of ‘Sallust’ at the time of her death in 1733. A copy of it with her annotations came into the possession of Lord George Germain [q. v.], and at the sale of his books was purchased by John Wilkes, who valued it highly. Her son, George Abraham Grierson, described as ‘a gentleman of uncommon learning, great wit and vivacity,’ was a friend of Dr. Johnson. He died at Düsseldorf in 1755, aged 27. Several volumes of his manuscript collections, in various languages, relating to European history are in the possession of representatives of his family.

Works

 * Editions of Virgil, Terence (Dublin, 1727), and Tacitus (3 vols., Dublin, 1730).

Virgil, Terence and Tacitus were three of the greatest writers/poets of their time. They wrote a multitude of books in their day. Virgil is well known for his tale The Aenid. In Constantia's time, not many knew how to speak Latin. Constantia studied Latin and was able to edit the works of these three great men. Many people were impressed by her editing skills. Constantia started editing when she was eighteen; by the time she completed these three edits she was only 24. Her great intelligence and ability garnered her much due adoration among her peers. When Constantia was assisting her husband in his appeal to the House of Commons her edits were described as follows, "the Editions corrected by her have been approved of, not only in this Kingdom, but in Great Britain, Holland and elsewhere, and the Art of Printing, through her care and assistance, has been brought to greater perfection than has been hitherto in this Kingdom." In addition to her editorial work she was a poet. Little of her poetry survives, however her friend Mary Barber published six of her pieces in her Poems on Several Occasions (1734). Constantia's poems are few and far between, yet the ones still in circulation are seen as proof of her intelligence. Many poems, epigrams, and occasional pieces flowed from her facile pen—written in Latin, Greek, or English; but as they did not come up to her standard of excellence, she burnt them all before her death. None of her poems have been preserved, save a few which she addressed to various friends, notably to Mrs. Barber, and which are too personal to be quoted as they could not possess any interest for the general reader; and, on the other hand, it would be unfair to give them as specimens of Mrs. Grierson's poetical abilities.