ABSTRACT
Not only was the quality of Esther Inglis' calligraphic strokes considered exceptional, but even more unusually she produced her books virtually independently. Typically hand-made books, consisting of illustrations, decorative borders, written text, intricate headings or initial letters, binding, and book covers, continued to be created in male-dominated workshop settings, as had been done in medieval times. Inglis indeed needed the spirit of an Amazon, for her specially wrought books were not commissioned, but made on speculation; they were personally dedicated and sent to prominent clergy and nobility, such as Queen Elizabeth and Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, in the expectation that there would be a monetary reward in return. Ballard’s feminist inclinations are thus not especially noticeable in Inglis’ life story, although he does declare her work to be superior to that of other seventeenth-century male writing masters, which was high praise indeed.
