L.E.L. (14 August, 1802 – 14 October, 1838) was an English novelist and poet.
“Letitia Elizabeth Landon“.
Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
- E.L stands for Letitia Elizabeth Landon.
- When she was a toddler, a handicapped neighbor used to scatter letter tiles on the floor and reward young Letitia for reading.
- In 1809 the Landon family moved to the country so the patriarch, John Landon, could work on a model farm project. Letitia was homeschooled by her older cousin Elizabeth, however she soon suppressed her. The family moved back to London in 1815
- In 1820 the poet published her first poem under the nom de plume “L”. She was 18.
- In 1821 Ms. Landon published her first book of poetry The Fate of Adelaide, under her own name. The book sold well but did not meet critical acclaim.
- The same month, two of her poems were published in Gazette under the initials “L.E.L.” and were met with much discussion and praise.
- Landon wrote poetry while being the Gazette’s chief reviewer.
- Landon’s reputation suffered greatly as rumors of her giving birth out of wedlock emerged.
- When she was engaged to John Forster she implored him to make inquiries about her transgressions. Forster did, found her to be satisfied or her purity… and promptly broke off the engagement.
- Landon married Georg Maclean, governor of the Gold Coast (Ghana). She moved with him for Cape Coast. Two month later Ms. Landon was found dead with a bottle of prussic acid. The hypothesis is that she suffered a fatal convulsion from a Stokes-Adams syndrome (dilute acid was a remedy to be taken).
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