Helena Faucit was born to actor parents, and followed them into the profession, making her debut in a small theatre in Richmond as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in 1833. She was a great success, and later went on to play others of Shakespeare’s great heroines on the London stage, including Hermione (A Winter’s Tale), Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) and Cordelia (King Lear). She also played Lady Macbeth in a gala performance staged for the wedding of the Princess Royal (Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Vicky). In 1851 she married Theodore Martin, later Prince Albert’s biographer. Faucit turned author herself in 1881, writing ‘letters’ on the characters whom she had played on stage, which were originally published in Blackwood’s Magazine, and later in book format in 1885. This copy was presented to Queen Victoria by the author that same year.