Katherine Philips

Frances Malpezzi (Kansas State University)

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The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

Born 1 Jan 1632
Died 22 Jun 1664
Activity 1651-1664

Places

Born in England
Active in England; Ireland, Republic of (Eire); Wales

Activities

Primary

Poet

Other

Man/ Woman of Letters
Playwright / Dramatist
Translator

Resources

Philips' Works

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Though Katherine Philips' life was all too brief, her accomplishments as poet, dramatist, and translator are not insignificant. Her corpus includes over 120 poems. While most of these are original, several are translations or adaptations. “A Country Life,” for example, is based on Horace's “

Beatus ille

.” She also has several translations of poems from Italian and French, including Antoine-Girard de Saint-Amant's “La Solitude.” In addition to writing and translating poetry, she translated two plays by Pierre Corneille,

Pompey

and

Horace

. As a result of these efforts, she is credited with being the first female to have a work staged in Britain. Philips also wrote numerous letters to friends, some of which were published.

Katharine Fowler was born in London on January 1, 1632. Her

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2119 words

Citation: Malpezzi, Frances. "Katherine Philips". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 January 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3551, accessed 03 April 2025.]

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