Anna Gordon 1613-1656
Anna GORDON 1613-1656
Biographical Note
She was the eldest daughter of George Gordon, 2nd marquess of Huntly and Lady Anne Campbell, daughter of the 7th earl of Argyll. She spent some years abroad with her mother at the court of France. On 6th November 1639, she married Sir James Drummond, 3rd Earl of Perth. She died following complications after the birth of her 3rd child, Anna, and was heavily mourned by her family. On her death, her father-in-law described her as “always most religiously disposed, of a solid, strong wit, discreet to all who had the happiness of her acquaintance; a lady, chaste, virtuous, forseeing, temperate, a of most excellent behaviour, and comely carriage, without pride or vanity" (Malcolm, p.138).
Books
Anna’s personal library is known through books inscribed by her and listed in the Catalogue of Drummond Castle printed in 1912. The majority of these titles are in French, and include:
Journal des choses mémorables advenues durant tout le règne de Henry III (1621)
Jacques Du Bosc etiquette manual L'Honnête Femme (Paris, 1637)
His Divine Weekes and works (London, 1621) by the French protestant poet Guillaume de Saluste, inscribed “Ladye Anna Gordonne aught this book 1640.”
The Mitchell Library also holds Anna’s 5 volume edition of Honoré d'Urfé influential novel L'Astrée (Paris, 1632) on which she inscribed her name and title “Countess of Perth.”
Characteristic Markings
Books identified as hers are inscribed with variations of “Ladye Anna Gordonne” sometimes with her title “Countess of Perth.”
Sources
- Catalogue of the rare and most interesting books and manuscripts in the library at Drummond Castle, compiled by G.P. Johnston, Edinburgh, 1910
- Malcolm, David. A Genealogical Memoir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Drummond, Edinburgh, 1808
- The Mitchell Library Glasgow, Catalogue of Incunabula and ESTC Books, 1964