The material biography of Molly Lepell (1700-1768): The intellectual world of an early modern woman through her words and possessions

This project seeks to learn more about the life and internal world of Mary 'Molly' Lepel, Lady Hervey (1700-1768). A courtier, muse and intellectual, Molly was beautiful and witty, interacting extensively with the intellectual and political environment of her time. Although detailed biographical studies of remarkable elite women are not uncommon, examining the lives and experiences of Henrietta Howard (Borman 2007), Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (Foreman 2004), Elizabeth Chudleigih (Ostler 2022) and others, Molly Lepel has not been considered in the same depth.

The case of Molly Lepel illustrates the capacity of the historical record to forget brilliant women. Lauded by Lord Buckingham, Pope, Voltaire and others, the Earls of Chesterfield and Bath jointly wrote a lengthy poem about her, claiming that 'Of all the bright beauties so killing, / In London's fair city that dwell, / None can give me such joy, were she willing, / As the beautiful Molly Lepel'.

A woman of such influence and reputation, Molly Lepel's story deserves to be told. Living much of her life at Ickworth, Suffolk, now owned by the National Trust, many of her surviving personal effects remain at the property, including an extensive personal library of over 500 books. Molly organised her pamphlets into volumes, writing in the margins and filling in redacted sections.

It is this level of interaction with her library as well as other aspects of her surviving material culture that forms the basis to this project. Non-documentary evidence communicates feeling and reality in a way that traditional approaches cannot, representing the lived experience of its contemporaries.

This project will utilise Prown's (1982) methodology of analysing material culture, description, deduction and speculation, to analyse this material culture, alongside the examination of archival materials, to conduct a biographical study of Lady Mary Hervey, providing an insight into her views, passions and understanding of the world. The primary research question for this work is: How does the surviving material culture of Molly Lepel reflect her views, passions and understanding of the world?

However, it will also provide important insight on wider female intellectualism in the 18th century. The outcomes of this research will not only serve academic purpose, but will inform the

interpretation at Ickworth, National Trust. Following on from this research, I will work in collaboration with the curatorial and property staff at Ickworth, National Trust, to produce an exhibition relating the findings of the project. This will redress the systemic imbalance at play in these institutions, no longer relating history as great men with their wives stood behind them, but remarkable women's lives and histories communicated in their own right.