Editing Lucy Aikin (section)

==Works==
Aikin's works delve into the artistic, social, and literary sides of her period, rather than its religious, military or parliamentary history.<ref name="ODNB"/>

In 1810 appeared her first considerable work, ''Epistles on Women, Exemplifying their Character and Condition in Various Ages and Nations, with Miscellaneous Poems'', and in 1814 her only work of fiction, entitled ''Lorimer, a Tale''. Those were just early efforts, but her reputation was gained wholly by historical works published between 1818 and 1843: ''Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth'' (1818); ''Memoirs of the Court of James I.'' (1822); ''Memoirs of the Court of Charles I.'' (1833); and the ''Life of Addison'' (1843). The last of these, containing many letters of [[Joseph Addison|Addison]] never before published, was the subject of an essay by Macaulay, who while praising Aikin's other works, and especially her ''Memoirs of the Court of James I'', observed that she was "far more at home among the ruffs and peaked beards of Theobalds than among the steenkirks and flowing periwigs which surrounded Queen Anne's tea table at Hampton."{{sfn |Stephen |Lee |1885 |pp=186–87}}

Of her other memoirs, she herself wrote on completing her Charles I, "I am resolved against proceeding farther with English sovereigns. Charles II is no theme for me: it would make me condemn my species." Aikin also wrote a life of her father, and of her aunt, Mrs Barbauld, and many minor pieces.

Like Barbauld, Aikin was interested in early education, and as such published several works to assist young readers: ''Poetry for Children: Consisting of Short Pieces to be Committed to Memory'' (1801), ''Juvenile Correspondence or Letters, Designed as Examples of the Epistolary Style, for Children of Both Sexes'' (1811), ''An English Lesson Book, for the Junior Classes'' (1828), and ''The Acts of Life: of Providing Food, of Providing Clothing, of Providing Shelter'' (1858). Under the pseudonym Mary Godolphin, Aikin also contributed as an editor to versions of ''[[Pilgrim's Progress]]'', ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'', ''[[Swiss Family Robinson]]'', ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'', ''Evenings at Home'' (by her father and aunt), and ''[[The History of Sandford and Merton|Sandford and Merton]]'' written "in Words of One Syllable".