Samuel Arlent Edwards Art

An original signed mezzotint engraving on wove paper by English artist Samuel Arlent Edwards (1862-1938) titled "Lady Betty", c. 1900 after a painting by English artist George Romney (1734-1802). Hand pencil signed and illegibly inscribed by Edwards lower right. Limited edition unknown, presumed small. Edwards himself inked and printed each plate for every copy, and therefore no two prints were exactly alike. He made only a limited number of copies of each work, insisting that each be sold framed. Old gallery sticker label adhered on verso. Framed in a gilt period frame with French matting. Framed size: 23.25" x 19.25". Image size: 12.75" x 10.25". In overall good condition. Lady Elizabeth Hastings (19 April 1682 – 21 December 1739), known as Lady Betty and less commonly as Steele's Aspasia, was an English benefactor. She was the daughter of the 7th Earl of Huntingdon; her brother George became the 8th Earl. Hastings's father died in 1704 and her brother in 1705. Her grandmother died a year later and passed on to her the estate of Ledston or Ledstone Hall, near Castleford, West Yorkshire, and she lived there until her death. She did not marry. Lady Betty had an annual income of about £3000 and gave half of this to various charitable causes, including local charities, a girls' school in Ledsham, and a school in Chelsea run by Mary Astell. She was a major influence on the erection of Holy Trinity Church, Leeds. She gained the epithet "Steele's Aspasia" because Richard Steele wrote an essay in Tatler that compared Hastings to Aspasia. Her portrait was painted by Godfrey Kneller, and her memorial in Ledsham church is based on this portrait. Early in 1738 she was found to have breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy, but her health continued to decline until she died at the end of 1739; during her illness she continued to make charitable donations. She left the bulk of her estate to her nephew Francis Hastings...