Lady Mary Wroth
(1587-1651)

Lady Mary Wroth (1587–1653) Xenophon, Cyrupaedia, translated by Philemon Holland. London: John Legat, 1632.



Wroth created a monogram, which appears here on her personal copy of Xenophon’s biography of the Persian ruler Cyrus. Its many letters spell the names “Pamphilia” and “Amphilanthus,” the protagonists of her prose romance, The Countess of Montgomery’s Urania (1621). These two characters were avatars for Wroth and her cousin—and lover —William Herbert. Look closely: you might even find all the letters to spell “Mary” and “William.