ELIZABETH TUDOR'S “VIRTUES procured Her more Honour and Esteem in all Nations, than all these Ornaments of Industry, Learning, and Ingenuity, though they appeared in Her to an higher and more illustrious degree, than ever was found in any other Lady.” Edmund Bohun published these words in his biography of Elizabeth in 1693. Yet, Mary Tudor, Elizabeth's virtuous, equally learned, elder half-sister, and first queen regnant of England, is very infrequently, if ever, afforded the same praise. One such source often taken as evidence of Elizabeth's superiority are the four translations that she undertook as a young princess; they are included in multiple edited collections of Elizabeth's letters and writings, but nothing of the sort exists for her sister Mary even though she engaged in similar activities. The primary focus of this present study is the four dedications that Elizabeth wrote to Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, and her brother Edward, that accompanied her four pre-accession translations. Yet, it is clear that to fully understand these dedications, Elizabeth's work cannot be separated out from that of her sister Mary. The dedications must be examined by themselves, as well as alongside the New Year's gift-giving tradition in which she gave them, both her and Mary's youthful translations, and how her dedications and translations came be to represented after she completed them. Comparing dedications, then, is another way to compare the pre-accession experiences of Mary and Elizabeth, a time period for both women which is largely ignored for their later years as queens.

Importantly, rather than treating the pre-accession translations of Elizabeth and Mary as separate and not equal, this study examines them together, as Mary and Elizabeth undertook some of their translations at the exact same time. I show that Mary's translations need to be considered as important as Elizabeth's translations, and how in fact, Elizabeth's translations were of little importance at the time she created them. As such, what follows is skewed more heavily toward Elizabeth, even though it offers analysis of Mary and Elizabeth together to present a more well-rounded picture of their literary activities before they each became queen.