scribbleress

English

Etymology

From scribbler +‎ -ess.

Noun

scribbleress (plural scribbleresses) (rare)

1. A female scribbler.
   • 1824, William Beckford, The Hamilton Palace Libraries: Catalogue of the First [ -fourth and Concluding] Portion of the Beckford Library, Removed from Hamilton Palace : Which Will Be Sold by Auction by Mssrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Auctioneers of Literary Property and Works Illustrative of the Fine Arts, at Their House, No. 13, Wellington Street, Strand, W.C., On Friday, the 30th Day of June, 1882, and Eleven Following Days, at One O’Clock Precisely, published 1882, page 25:

     331 Graham (Maria) Journal of a Residence in Chile, plates, calf extra, gilt edges, by C. Lewis 4to. 1824 / The following note is written by Mr. Beckford on fly-leaf: p. 386. “‘The blessed Virgin or some other heavenly Chimera’—happy expression to be sure—highly recommendatory for the future governess of Prince of Brazil. p. 426 And is it possible that, Maria Graham, a professed scribbleress and little more, could ever have been encouraged even to dream of such a situation? Had she been a professed Cook, for which useful art—from the frequent mention of dainty morsels and savoury dishes in different pages of her Tours I rather conjecture she has some vocation—one might have seen some cause for the appointment. It is impossible in these revolutionary times to foresee all the degradation to which princesses may be compelled to stoop, and a knowledge of cookery skilfully instilled may turn out upon the spur of occasion a most happy accomplishment.’”

   • 1862, The Sydney Mail, volume II, number 97, Which Wins?: A Tale of Life’s Impulses. By Ariel. Chapter XXX., page 2, column 1:

     I return to my pen to write one other sentence. My father married Mary Lowe a year after my mother’s death. Ah, there John speaks. / “Isola, put down that pen.” / “I won’t.” / “You must.” / “You tyrant!” / “Put it down, you little goose, and come out for a walk. No wife of mine is going to be a scribbleress.”

   • 1870, S. R. Wells, editor, The Phrenological Journal and Packard’s Monthly‎^[1], New York: Wells, Samuel R., A Disputed Point (by Mary Haines Gilbert), page 359, column 1:

     I sighed. “Doubtless you are right, but I will cling to ‘editor’ and ‘author,’ nevertheless, and repeat the esses only when I fear being laughed at.” / “You will regret it,” groaned my mentor. / “Well, then, will this satisfy you?” said I. “That old tyrant, Grammar, has, by the aid of editors and editresses, critics and criticesses, slain his thousands and tens of thousands of authors and authoresses, scribblers and scribbleresses.”

   • 1875, The Southern Home, page 3:

     We have heretofore spoken of that insolent caricature of Southern women, “Hose of Carolina,” by Mrs. Rebecca Harding Davis, a Yankee scribbleress, and of her more recent “Qualla,” a gushing story of a trip to the Cherokee region of North Carolina, and of the remarkable absence of honesty, decency, and intelligence among that people, as, indeed, among the inhabitants of Western North Carolina in general.

   • 1895 April, The Capital‎^[2], volume I, number 12, La Fiesta La Fiesta: Graphic Description of the Doings of Counterfeit Royalty, page 1, column 2:

     For the time being the city and county officers were all Right Honorables, the lawyers were all Chancellors, the bankers were Keepers of Coin of the Realm, the storekeepers were Purveyors to the Queen and all others who pay cash, many of the hotel keepers were Royal Robbers, the liquor dealers were Knights of Otard and Mash, the editors and reporters were Scribblers and Scribbleresses (Jimminy! what a word) to the Queen—and we guess she’s mighty tired of ’em by this time—and the women, well, they were all duchesses, countesses and princesses, for the time being, and if they were not, they were just as nice and good and sweet, and where in the world would we be without them?

   • 1913, “Chapter XXVII. Women and Literature”, in Winifred Stephens, transl., Madeleine at Her Mirror: A Woman’s Diary‎^[3], translation of original by Tinayre, Marcelle, page 204:

     “‘Ladies, do not enter the literary profession out of mere vanity or caprice. You can never become a writer unless you have studied or have some special gift. Even with talent you may have much to suffer. But if you lack talent you will never be even a poor artist, you will remain outside the ranks, cutting a pitiful and a rather ridiculous figure. Don’t think only of the few who succeed. Remember the thousands who fail. …’ That is how I should talk to those ladies.” / “Bah!” replied that brute of a Dobret. “They would only think you were jealous and a woman-hater.” / “Excuse me,” replied François, “I should say precisely the same to men. I may be afraid of scribbleresses, but of scribblers I have a mortal dread.”

   • 2003, Chronicles, volume 27, Rockford Institute, page 27, columns 1–2:

     She [Hillary Clinton] neither tells how it was done nor does she reveal any insider hanky-panky. The complete failure of the gnostic universal healthcare plan of 1,342 pages is dismissed by the scribbleress as an action of virtue: “We were trying to move too quickly on a bill that would fundamentally alter American social and economic policy for years to come. […]”