Mary Howitt

Mary Botham grew up in a Quaker family that took some care with her education; she was married William Howitt in 1821. The Howitts collaborated on a profusion of works in many literary kinds, and traveled much in Britain and the Continent; Mary was much in demand as a contributor to gift-books and annuals. She was an acquaintance of Mary Russell Mitford and corresponded with Bernard Barton and Felicia Hemans, among many other literary friends.

TEXT RECORDS:

1826Surrey in Captivity.
1827Lines for the Tomb of Hofer, the Tyrolese Patriot, on the Brenner Mountains.
1827Stanzas to Bernard Barton.
1827The Desolation of Eyam.
1827The Last Eve of Saul.
1827Tyre.

PUBLICATIONS:

The forest minstrel and other poems [with William Howitt]. 1823.
The desolation of Eyam, the emigrant: a tale of the American woods; and other poems [with William Howitt]. 1827.
Sketches of natural history. 1834.
Wood Leighton: or a year in the country. 3 vols, 1836.
Hymns and fireside verses. 1839.
Hope on, hope ever! 1840.
Strive and thrive: a tale. 1840.
Sowing and reaping: or what will come of it? 1841.
Work and wages: or a life in service. 1842.
Little coin, much care. 1842.
Love and money, an everyday tale. 1843.
No sense like common sense: or some passages in the life of Charles Middleton. 1843.
My uncle, the clockmaker. A tale. 1844.
Fireside verses. 1845.
Ballads and other poems. 1847.
The children's year. 1847.
The heir of Wast-Waylan. 1847.
Howitt's journal of literature and other popular progress. 1847-49.
Our cousins in Ohio. 1849.
The picture book for the young. 1855.
Birds and flowers and other country things. 1855.
Marion's pilgrimage: a fire-side story, and other poems. 1859.
A popular history of the United States. 1859.
Lillieslea: or lost and found. 1861.
Little Arthur's letters to his sister Mary. A pleasing picture book. 1861.
The cost of Caergwyn. 3 vols, 1864.
Stories of Stapleford. 1864.
Tales in prose for young people.
Tales in verse for young people. 1865.
Our four-footed friends. 1867.
Vignettes of American history. 1869.
Birds and their nests. 1872.
Tales for all seasons. 1881.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

English
Quaker
Catholic
Dissenter

Friends' School Croydon
Dissenting Academy

woman writer
poet
essayist
novelist

The Kaleidoscope
Forget-Me-Not
Friendship's Offering
Literary Souvenir
Literary Magnet
The Amulet
Winter's Wreath
The Gem
The Iris
Pledge of Friendship
Juvenile Forget-Me-Not
New Year's Gift
Christmas Box
Ackermann's Juvenile Forget-Me-Not

Joanna Baillie
Bernard Barton
Felicia Hemans
William Howitt
Mary Russell Mitford
Dr. David Macbeth Moir
Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen
Alaric Alexander Watts

REFERENCE:

DNB; NCBEL; DLB.

John Wilson, "Noctes Ambrosianae" Blackwoods (November 1828; April 1831); Allan Cunningham, "Literature of the last Fifty Years" The Athenaeum No. 316 (16 November 1833) 773; S. C. Hall, in The Book of Gems (1838); Robert Chambers, Cyclopaedia of English Literature (1844); R. H. Horne, in New Spirit of the Age (1844); Frederic Rowton, Female Poets of Great Britain (1853); David Macbeth Moir, Poetical Literature of the Past Half-Century (1851; 1856) 276-79; Sarah Josepha Hale, Woman's Record (1855) [portrait]; Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); Joseph Smith, A Descriptive Catalogue of Friends' Books (1867);Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts ... by his Son (1884); Mary Howitt, ed. Margaret Howitt, An Autobiography (1889); Frederic Boase, Modern English Biography (1892-1921); Evelyn Noble Armitage, Quaker Poets (1896) 120-24; Carl R. Woodring, Victorian Samplers: William and Mary Howitt (1952); Amice Lee, Laurels and Rosemary: the Life of William and Mary Howitt (1955); Jackson, Romantic Poetry by Women: A Bibliography (1993); Chadwyck-Healey English Poetry Database (1995); Feldman, British Women Poets (1997).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for Mary Howitt:

1.	1827  Bernard Barton, "To William and Mary Howitt" Literary Magnet NS 4 (1827) 47.
2.	1828  John Wilson, et. al., in Blackwood's Magazine (November 1828); Noctes Ambrosianae, ed. Mackenzie (1854) 3:171.
3.	1828  Felicia Hemans to Mary Howitt, 12 May 1828; Memorials of Mrs. Hemans, ed. Chorley (1836) 1:162.
4.	1828  Caroline Bowles to Alaric Alexander Watts, 1828 ca.; in Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:19.
5.	1828  Bernard Barton, "To William and Mary Howitt" New Year's Gift (1828) 41.
6.	1830 ca.  Barbara Hofland to Thomas Ramsay, 1830 ca.; Ramsay, Life and Literary Remains of Barbara Hofland (1849) 121.
7.	1833  Allan Cunningham, in "Biographical and Critical History of the Literature of the last Fifty Years" The Athenaeum (16 November 1833) 773.
8.	1836  Allan Cunningham to Alaric Alexander Watts, 10 October 1836; in Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:209.
9.	1850  George Gilfillan, in "James Montgomery" Second Gallery of Literary Portraits (1850) 323.
10.	1851  David Macbeth Moir, in Sketches of the Poetical Literature of the Past Half-Century (1851; 1856) 276-79.
11.	1855  Sarah Josepha Hale, Woman's Record; or, Sketches of all Distinguished Women (1852; 1855) 699-701.
12.	1862  Thomas Arnold, in A Manual of English Literature (1862; 1885) 454.
13.	1882  Epes Sargent, in Harper's Cyclopaedia of British and American Poetry (1882) 594.
14.	1884  Alaric Alfred Watts, in Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:2-3.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for Mary Howitt:

1.	1838  S. C. Hall, in The Book of Gems. The Modern Poets and Artists of Great Britain (1838) 282.
2.	1844  Robert Chambers, in Cyclopaedia of English Literature (1844; 1850) 2:462.
3.	1850  Anonymous, in British Female Poets (n.d., ca. 1850) 339-40.
4.	1892  Frederic Boase, Modern English Biography (1892-1921) 1:1559.
5.	1896  Evelyn Noble Armitage, in Quaker Poets (1896) 120-24.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1824  Samuel Taylor Coleridge:   Mary Howitt to Anna Botham, 4 August 1824; An Autobiography (1889) 1:242-43.
2.	1824  Thomas Medwin:   Mary Howitt to Anne Botham, 28 October 1824; An Autobiography (1889) 1:186.
3.	1824  Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen:   Mary Howitt to Anne Botham, 28 October 1824; An Autobiography (1889) 1:188.
4.	1829  Lord Byron:   Mary Howitt to Zilla Wiffen Watts, 16 November 1829; in Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:4.
5.	1829  Thomas Campbell:   Mary Howitt to Zilla Wiffen Watts, 16 November 1829; in Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:5.
6.	1829  John Keats:   Mary Howitt to Zilla Wiffen Watts, 16 November 1829; in Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:4-5.
7.	1829  Percy Bysshe Shelley:   Mary Howitt to Zilla Wiffen Watts, 16 November 1829; in Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:4.
8.	1830  William Blake:   Mary Howitt to Zilla Wiffen Watts, 18 February 1830; Alaric Alfred Watts, Alaric Watts, a Narrative of his Life, by his Son (1884) 2:6-7.
9.	1831 ca.  William Kennedy:   Mary Howitt, 1831 ca.; An Autobiography (1889) 1:218.
10.	1831  William Wordsworth:   Mary Howitt to Anna Botham, 3 May 1831; An Autobiography (1889) 1:225.
11.	1832  Sir Walter Scott:   Mary Howitt to Anna Botham, 16 October 1832; in An Autobiography (1889) 1:230.
12.	1834  Mary Russell Mitford:   Mary Howitt to Mary Russell Mitford, 27 February 1834; in L'Estrange, Friendships of Mary Russell Mitford (1882) 183.
13.	1836 ca.  John Wilson:   Mary Howitt, 1836 ca.; An Autobiography (1889) 1:255.
14.	1864  Bernard Barton:   Mary Howitt to Margaret Howitt, 29 September 1864; Moulton, Library of Literary Criticism (1901-05) 5:595.
15.	1889  Richard Howitt:   Mary Howitt, in An Autobiography (1889) 1:181.
16.	1889  Francis Noel Clarke Mundy:   Mary Howitt, in An Autobiography (1889) 1:38.
17.	1889  Alaric Alexander Watts:   Mary Howitt, in An Autobiography (1889) 1:215.