IN 2017, I wrote a 2,000-word entry on manuscript dedications written by Princess Elizabeth for Women Writers in Context, an online publication series from the Women Writers Project. More than 6,000 words later, I realized that the topic of Elizabeth's pre-accession translations deserved more attention, especially the dedications that accompanied those translations as they were the actual words of the princess, not those translated by her. The manuscript grew organically based on information I was able to thread together and realized had never been connected before. The result is a detailed case study of the four extant dedications that Elizabeth Tudor wrote to accompany manuscript translations that she gave to Katherine Parr, Henry VIII, and her brother Edward as New Year's gifts from 1545 to 1548. An analysis of these sources quickly revealed that Elizabeth's pre-accession dedications and translations cannot be separated from those of her sister Mary, nor can they be used to show her educational or cultural superiority over Mary.

Pre-accession printed book and manuscript dedications to Mary and Elizabeth are one small, often-overlooked area where Mary and Elizabeth can be compared and considered for their similar experiences as daughters of Henry VIII. Both Mary and Elizabeth received the same generic praise for being virtuous, pious, illustrious, and learned, as indeed they probably were, yet, that is where the similarities end. With Mary receiving so many more dedications than Elizabeth, there was much more opportunity for dedicators to praise Mary for being excellent in birth, prominent among women, and possessing bountiful goodness. Mary was also thought to be a keeper and appreciator of holy words and impenetrable to the threat of heresy. She was considered to be more than just a typical royal lady, but prominent, a font of influence, and an important Catholic figure in the religious settlement, while Elizabeth was simply a virginal, royal lady.

When it came to advice given to the princesses in their dedications, each was also approached very differently. Dedicators offered no advice to prepare young Mary for queenship, other than reminding her to maintain her virtue and be true to the Catholic faith.