The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Lewis, Estelle Anna Blanche

LEWIS, Estelle Anna Blanche , American dramatist: b. near Baltimore, Md., April 1824; d. London, 24 Nov. 1880. While a schoolgirl she made a verse-rendering of the &lsquo;Æneid&rsquo; into English; wrote &lsquo;Forsaken&rsquo; and published &lsquo;Records of the Heart&rsquo; (1844). Her best dramatic work, &lsquo;Sappho of Lesbos&rsquo; (1868), a tragedy, ran through seven editions, was translated into modern Greek, and played at Athens. Edgar A. Poe spoke of her as the rival of Sappho; Lamartine called her the &ldquo;female Petrarch.&rdquo; Others of her works are &lsquo;The Child of the Sea, and Other Poems&rsquo; (1848); &lsquo;The Myths of the Minstrel&rsquo; (1852); &lsquo;Poems&rsquo; (1866), and &lsquo; The King's Stratagem&rsquo; (1869), a tragedy.