It was a brilliant match – seventeen-year-old Susan de Vere married Philip Herbert, soon to be Earl of Montgomery, on 27 December 1604. The young couple had contracted to each other in secret, but King James himself took up their cause and gave away the bride during the lavish court festivities that included a masque (now lost) Juno and Hymenaeus. Lady Susan was one of the daughters of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, but she had been raised in the household of William Cecil, Lord Burghley, with all the advantages and wealth. She had recently joined the court of Queen Anna, and maintained a close relationship with both princes Henry and Charles.
Esther must have heard of this marriage, perhaps through her friend David Murray in Prince Henry’s household, and she presented a manuscript to Lady Susan on 20 February 1605. Alas, if only she had been better prepared. The gift was not one of the glorious coloured manuscripts full of flowers and insects, or even one of the amazingly decorated black-and-white manuscripts, but her plain calligraphic copy book, probably dating from 1586.
Harvard, Houghton Library, MS Typ 428.1 Seq 5
Writing about this now, makes me feel a little embarrassed for Esther. Having moved to London in mid-1604, then copied out David Hume’s treatise on British union, she apparently had not had time to create something special. And that was a shame, since Susan Herbert loved the arts, danced in many of the Queen’s masques, and became a noted patron to a number of writers. What she thought of Esther’s little book, we’ll never know.
Harvard, Houghton Library, MS Typ 428.1 Seq 3 – Dedication
Perhaps at least she appreciated the dedication in which Esther writes: ‘. . . albeit I be a stranger and no way knowen to your L[adyship], yitt haue I tane the boldnes to present you with thir few flovris that I have collected of Dame FLORAS blossomes Trusting your L will accept heirof als kindlie as from my heart I haue done it, and in humilitie offers the same to your L. and the rather becaus it is the work of a woman of one, desyrous to serue and honour your L, in any thinge it shall please your L, to command’.
Lady Susan had a superior education in the Cecil household, which likely included a writing master. If she looked through Esther’s book with its forty different calligraphic hands, she might have been reminded of her own studies, though she would not have reached Esther’s professional proficiency.
Harvard, Houghton Library, MS Typ 428.1 Seq 49
Harvard, Houghton Library, MS Typ 428.1 Seq 71
At the end of the dedication, Esther hopes her little work will be agreeable to Lady Susan, and shows her knowledge of the recent wedding when she says, ‘I pray God blis and preserue your L, and your noble husband in long life, good health and prosperitie. At London this xx of Februar 1605’.
Later in 1605, Esther began producing a string of beautiful, coloured manuscripts, for Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester; Lucy, Countess of Bedford; and Elizabeth, Lady Erskine, among many others. If she had had such a one available, who knows whether she would have gained a genuine patroness in Susan de Vere Herbert, soon to be Countess of Montgomery.
Esther Inglis (c1570-1624): Calligrapher, Artist, Embroiderer, Writer 