Mary Lamb
Mary Lamb (1764-1847) was an English writer known for her literary contributions, particularly in collaboration with her brother, Charles Lamb. Born in London, she had a challenging early life marked by family responsibilities and personal struggles, including a severe mental breakdown that led to a tragic incident in which she killed her mother. Following her trial, she was deemed insane and spent time in an asylum before living with Charles, with whom she engaged in literary projects.
Together, they adapted Shakespearean tales for young readers, resulting in the 1807 publication of *Tales from Shakespear*, although Charles was credited as the sole author. Mary also authored *Mrs. Leicester's School*, drawing from her own experiences to create stories. Despite her significant contributions, historical accounts often overlooked her achievements, focusing more on Charles's work instead.
In her later years, Mary faced further challenges related to her mental health but found companionship in a young girl named Emma Isola, whom she and Charles adopted. Following Charles's death, Mary continued to live until her own passing in 1847. In recent scholarship, Mary Lamb's writing has garnered renewed interest, with her works being reprinted and studied for their literary significance.
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Subject Terms
Mary Lamb
Writer
- Born: December 3, 1764
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: May 20, 1847
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
Mary Ann Lamb was born on December 3, 1764, at the Inner Temple in London, England, to John Lamb, who was Parliament member Samuel Salt’s valet, and Elizabeth Field Lamb, who worked as Salt’s housekeeper. As a young girl, Lamb enjoyed dramatic plays and explored Blakesware, the home in Hertfordshire where her maternal grandmother worked for the wealthy Plumer family. Because Lamb was a sewing apprentice, her parents restricted her reading to the Bible to preserve her eyesight, but she secretly read whenever she could, having access to Salt’s library.
In 1792,Salt died, ending his sponsorship of the Lamb family. Lamb moved to a Holborn residence and tended to her parents, who suffered from mental and physical infirmities, and a frail aunt. Lamb sewed to pay her family’s bills. Her mother verbally abused her. Overwhelmed with her caregiving duties, Lamb succumbed to a mental breakdown and on September 22, 1796, attacked her father with a knife and killed her mother.
She was tried for murder and a jury declared her insane. Lamb received care at an asylum in Islington. After her release from the asylum, she lived with her younger brother, Charles. Often restrained by a straitjacket, Lamb sometimes became violent as her mental health deteriorated, resulting in additional asylum stays. She and Charles socialized with intellectuals and writers, including William Godwin and his wife, Mary Jane Godwin.
After the Godwins asked Lamb and her brother to adapt plays into stories for young readers, Mary wrote most of Tales from Shakespear, Designed for the Use of Young Persons, which was published in 1807. Despite her contribution toward this collection, William Godwin credited the book to her brother, Charles. Mary and Charles also collaborated to compile Mrs. Leicester’s School: Or, The History of Several Young Ladies Related by Themselves. Mary appropriated memories from school and her childhood to write stories for that book, for which Charles also was publicly named as the author. Excited that people were reading her writing, Lamb compiled Poetry for Children, Entirely Original, composing poems which emphasized manners and social responsibilities.
Lamb and her brother vacationed at Cambridge in the summer of 1820, befriending a young girl, Emma Isola. In 1821, Lamb’s emotional collapse while traveling in Amiens, France, with her brother disrupted her life. Her bouts of dementia intensified. She and her brother decided to live in Islington in 1823, adopting Isola the next year after she was orphaned.
The Lambs ultimately established a residence at Edmonton in 1832. In late December, 1834, Charles died. A nurse tending Mary moved her to St. John’s Wood in London in 1839, where she died on May 20, 1847.
Contemporary reviewers focused on Charles’s writing, occasionally speculating how Mary’s insanity might have influenced him and not acknowledging, or being aware, of her literary achievements. However, Mary’s writing inspired literary criticism in the twentieth century, with scholars examining various aspects of her life and work. Since her death, Tales from Shakespear has gone through numerous reprintings, and collections of her letters and writings have been annotated and published.