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Women in the Blunden Collection

Unusually for his time, Blunden collected books by several prolific British women authors, including Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Bront毛, Christina Rossetti, and Mary Shelley, as well as by the American poet Emily Dickinson. Beyond these well-known authors, there are a number of other British women authors represented in his collection. They stand out for their literary merit as well as for the number of volumes Blunden collected by them.

Full length portrait of Elizabeth Barrett Browning

: Blunden signed several works by Browning (1806-1861) and left notes in her popular long blank-verse poem (1890). Blunden collected several volumes of her poetry including her popular love poems. She also published The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim鈥檚 Point (1848) as an abolitionist gift book to protest against slavery in the U.S.

Portrait of Frances Burney

: Blunden was interested in collecting books about 18th- and 19th-century English culture and society. Madame D鈥橝rblay (1752-1840), better known by her maiden name, Fanny Burney, made valuable contributions about these areas in her novels, diaries, and letters. Her diary entries also share interesting perspectives on how she approached writing, especially her famous work (1778). Blunden attached a newspaper clipping to his 1911 edition of this work reporting on the burning of a house that once belonged to Burney. According to the article, many artifacts from the Burney Room, including manuscripts, novels, letters, and portraits were destroyed in the fire.

Portrait of Sara Coleridge

: Sara Coleridge (1802-1852) is well known for her children鈥檚 verse. Blunden left notes about her most popular children鈥檚 verse, 鈥淭he Months鈥 in  (1845) which she wrote for her own children. Blunden leaves an insightful comment about a new perspective he gained after reading  (1875): 鈥淚t seems as if we should have a new account of Sara...she could never see herself except as S.T.C.鈥檚 child.鈥 Blunden went to Christ鈥檚 Hospital, the same school Samuel Taylor Coleridge attended.

Portrait of Elizabeth Gaskell

: Blunden likely collected Elizabeth Gaskell鈥榮 (1810-1875) work for her depictions of Victorian society. Like other women authors in his collection, Gaskell associated with famous literary figures at the time like John Ruskin, Florence Nightingale, and Charlotte Bront毛, even writing a  (1857) for Bront毛. Her books like  (1887) offer a Manchester experience of industrialization in rapid modernization and emerging capitalist economies.

Portrait of Mary Russell Mitford
Portrait of Mary Russell Mitford by Magnus Manski [, via ]

: Mitford (1787-1855) is well known for her prose sketches of English village life.  (1832) establishes the format of the realistic domestic novel. Her descriptions of rural English life are settings that Blunden explores in his own nature poetry. 

: Sylva Norman (1901-1971) is notable for her work on Mary Shelley, including  (1938) and  (1954). She was Blunden鈥檚 second wife and co-authored with Blunden  (1933). His World War I experience greatly inspired this highly autobiographical novel as it follows two characters traveling to visit the battlefields of Flanders, reflecting Norman and Blunden鈥檚 frequent visits to these battlefields.

Portrait of May Robinson

: Mary Robinson (1758-1800) is acclaimed for her poetry and novels as well as for her theatre performances. Blunden admired her poetry, leaving comments about her beauty in  (1791) and connections to British places in  (1801). Robinson鈥檚 connections to British royalty and influences in 18th-century fashion make valuable contributions to Blunden鈥檚 collection on British culture.

Portrait of Anna Seward

: Blunden collected several volumes of Anna Seward鈥檚 (1742-1809) poetry. Seward engaged with popular literary figures in her childhood home in Lichfield, including authors Blunden was also interested in collecting like Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, and Sir Walter Scott who published some of Seward鈥檚 poetry posthumously. Her poetry is known for its romantic themes. Blunden left marginalia in all 3 items of his Seward volumes. In Seward鈥檚  written to Honora Sneyd, her foster sister, April 1773, Blunden asks in the margin, 鈥淲hy did Anna fear such aversion?鈥 This sonnet illustrates a troubled character grappling with forbidden love, which may reflect what some queer scholars hypothesize about Seward鈥檚 own queer relations.

Portrait of Charlotte Smith

: Charlotte Smith鈥檚 (1749-1806) poetry and natural history texts reflect Blunden鈥檚 own interests collecting in this genre and topic. Smith鈥檚  (1819) is a children's schoolbook that reflects her unique interest in natural history and poetry, where readers can view beautiful illustrations of birds at the end of each volume and learn about scientific descriptions alongside bird depictions in personal poetry and Greek and Roman mythology. Researchers can also find Blunden鈥檚 great interest in Smith鈥檚 poetry through marginalia in  (1811) and flyleaf notes quoting and challenging William Wordsworth鈥檚 criticism of Smith鈥檚 writing in  (1804).

Portrait of Mary Augusta Ward

: Blunden collected Mary Augusta Ward鈥檚 (1851-1920) best-selling works like  (1903) and  (1905), popular with British and American readers. Ward was asked by former President Theodore Roosevelt to write about Britain during World War I for an American audience. She became one of the first female war correspondents through her visits to factories, the British fleet, and the same trenches that Blunden experienced as a soldier. Ward published  (1919) after this experience. Researchers will find valuable contributions to Blunden鈥檚 copy with many interesting anecdotes and comments reflecting his own WWI experience.

Portrait of Dorothy Wordsworth

: Some of Blunden鈥檚 poetry reflects nature elements that remind him of the Kentish countryside where he grew up. Blunden likely appreciated Dorothy Wordsworth鈥檚 (1771-1855) English prose, which is known for nature descriptions. Blunden left many insertions like biographical entries in the volumes of  between Dorothy and her brother, William. She was separated from her brother when her mother passed away in 1778, so their letters reflect a deep relationship of sympathy between them. She and her brother moved to Somerset in 1796, where entries from her  (1798) reveal close connections with literary neighbor, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a poet and philosopher whose volumes Blunden also collected.

Resources

Campbell, Caelen. 鈥淐harlotte Turner Smith鈥檚 鈥楢 Natural History of Birds Intended Chiefly for Young Persons.鈥 The Women鈥檚 Print History Project, 26 March 2021, . 

Reynolds, Nicole. 鈥淭he Many Lives of Mary Robinson鈥檚 Memoirs,鈥 Studies in Romanticism 60 no.4 (Winter 2021): 383-400 (accessed March 31, 2023). . [Note: 91探花 login required for access].

For more information:

Authors, titles, and series in the collection can be viewed more extensively through a search on in the ALICE library catalog. More specific information may be obtained by using "limit this search" for particular authors, dates of publication (e.g., after 1899 and before 1911), or publishers.

Page created by Alexis Voisard, MA student in English, 2022-23 Rare Books Graduate Assistant