A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Rigby, Miss
RIGBY, MISS,
Has not contributed as much to our current literature as many other English authoresses—but the few volumes for which the world is indebted to her, place her in the very first class among writers of tales and travels. It chanced that the elder sister of this lady married an Esthonian baron, who has established his residence on his family estates;—she was induced to visit this expatriated relative, and hence we obtained "Letters from the Baltic," published in 1841. This work at once made its way with the public and reviewers. Solid information and novelty of description conveyed in the most graceful style, brightened by wit, animated by the enthusiasm of an artistic taste, such are the attractive qualities of "Letters from the Baltic." We know of no other book that gives so clear, so true, and so detailed an account of life in the Russian Empire. "Russia, the country where the learned man wastes his time, the patriot breaks his heart, and the rogue prospers," such is her concluding observation on quitting St. Petersburg. In 1846 appeared "Livonian Tales;" they are three in number, and all well written.