Catherine Talbot, Catherine Talbot: Reflections on the Seven Days of the Week

Jack Orchard (Swansea University)

Ed. by Nicholas Seager, University of Keele
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele), Sean Seeger (University of Essex)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1770

Places

United Kingdom (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Essay / Lecture (literary)

Resources

Reflections on the Seven Days of the Week (1770) is a collection of seven pietistic essays on various themes of Anglican devotion by the early Bluestocking correspondent and essayist, Catherine Talbot (1721–1770). The Reflections was first published in 1770, shortly after the author's death, by John and Francis Rivington, at the urging of Talbot's friend and fellow Bluestocking, the classicist Elizabeth Carter (1717–1806), who wrote a prefatory “Advertisement”.

Origins

The Reflections, alongside Talbot's other posthumous essay collection, Essays on Various Subjects, appears to have been in progress as early as 1753. That year, Elizabeth Carter gently urged her friend towards publishing the contents of “that most excellent green book”, reflecting that Talbot will now have the leisure to do so, having moved with her guardian Thomas Secker (1693–1768) into Lambeth Palace, on Secker’s elevation to...

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1537 words

Citation: Orchard, Jack. "Catherine Talbot: Reflections on the Seven Days of the Week". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 September 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38746, accessed 14 December 2025.]