Daughter of the historian and physician John Aikin and neice of poet and essayist Anna Laetitia Barbauld, Lucy Aikin was a versatile and successful author of poetry, fiction, children's literature, history, memoirs, biographies, correspondence, translations, adaptations, and edited collections. Lucy Aikin was largely educated by her father and her aunt. At the age of 17, she began publishing contributions in journals and soon assisted her father as an editor of his work. Her own works were distinct in the artistic, literary, and social lenses through which they approached her subjects, as opposed to the more religious or strictly political lenses of many contemporary historians and biographers. Her biographies stand out for the use of primary materials such as letters and journals, and her work often met with considerable success. Aikin also had an interest in early education and published several guides to help young readers. Aikin was a staunch feminist and remained a Unitarian throughout her life. She never married or had children, instead spending her life living with family. Aikin sometimes published under pseudonyms, including Mary Godolphin. Some of her major works include Epistles on Women, Exemplifying Their Character and Condition in Various Ages and Nations: With Miscellaneous Poems (1810); Juvenile Correspondence, or Letters, Designed as Examples of the Epistolary Style, for Children of Both Sexes (1811); Lorimer: A Tale (1814); Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth (1818); Memoirs of the Court of King James the First (1822); Memoir of John Aikin, M.D.: With a Selection of His Miscellaneous Pieces, Biographical, Moral, and Critical (1823); The Works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld, edited, with a memoir (1825); An English Lesson Book, for the Junior Classes (1828); Memoirs of the Court of King Charles the First (1828); and The Life of Joseph Addison (1843), among others.