Mary Elizabeth Braddon

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Standard Name: Braddon, Mary Elizabeth
Birth Name: Mary Elizabeth Braddon
Pseudonym: Mary Seyton
Pseudonym: Babington White
Pseudonym: Lady Caroline Lascelles
Pseudonym: Aunt Belinda
Pseudonym: The author of Lady Audley's Secret
Self-constructed Name: M. E. Braddon
Married Name: Mary Elizabeth Maxwell
Used Form: Miss M. E. Braddon
MEB made her name, scandalously, in the early 1860s as a founder of the intricately plotted sensation novel, and was particularly known for her transgressive heroines. Although still most strongly associated with this and the related genres of gothic, mystery and detective stories, she also contributed significantly during her 56-year career to the psychological and realist novels, in addition to writing several dramas (some of them produced) and publishing in her youth one long poem in a collection with shorter ones. Dedicated to writing for the new and expanding mass reading public (including fiction for the penny press), and associated from the outset with novel advertising and publishing practices, she issued her work serially, edited Belgravia magazine from 1866 to 1876 (as well as a Christmas annual), and survived the demise of the triple-decker novel.
Painting of Mary Elizabeth Braddon by William Powell Frith, exhibited 1865. She stands beside a desk with writing materials and stacks of books, looking at the viewer, in a long dark dress. The wall behind her and the desk chair are red. Her red-brown hair is coiled over her ears, and her clasped hands hold a handkerchief. National Portrait Gallery.

Connections

Connections Author name Excerpt
death Jean Middlemass
Her obituary in the Times noted her accomplishments as a writer and suggested that her output as a novelist exceeded that of Mary Elizabeth Braddon .
“Obituary: Miss Jean Middlemass”. Times, 7 Nov. 1919, p. 15e.
15
Education Henry Handel Richardson
The child Ethel Richardson was a great reader. She identified with male fictional characters, and cherished three books which her father gave her almost on his death-bed: The Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan , Robinson Crusoe...
Education Stella Gibbons
SG learned to read fairly late, but then read voraciously. The glowing Eastern landscapes and brilliant figures
qtd. in
Oliver, Reggie. Out of the Woodshed: A Portrait of Stella Gibbons. Bloomsbury, 1998.
20
of Disraeli 's Alroy and Thomas Moore 's Lalla Rookh made a particular impression. She also developed...
Education Katharine Tynan
Owing to what KT calls an extraordinary wave of Puritanism throughout the Irish Catholic Church,
Tynan, Katharine. Twenty-Five Years: Reminiscences. Smith, Elder, 1913.
45
her reading was censored: her mother forbade her to read Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's Aurora Floyd (1863). She thought...
Friends, Associates Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton first Baron Lytton
His friends included Benjamin Disraeli , Charles Dickens , John Forster , and Thomas Babington Macaulay . Later in life he conducted a long, mentoring friendship by letter with Mary Elizabeth Braddon . He also...
Friends, Associates Ellen Wood
Probably as early as 1862, the publisher Richard Bentley asked EW for her critical opinion of the work of Mary Elizabeth Braddon . She replied with a balanced, judicious, and respectful assessment.
Sussex, Lucy. “Mrs Henry Wood and her Memorials”. Women’s Writing, Vol.
15
, No. 2, Aug. 2008, pp. 157-68.
159
Friends, Associates Rhoda Broughton
The sisters were in general popular in Oxford society, but Rhoda, although at first she dined regularly at the table of scholar Benjamin Jowett ,
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
(29 November 1940): 5
, was then ostracized in some...
Friends, Associates Rhoda Broughton
RB 's vitality, sincerity, and pungent wit gained her the friendship of some of the most notable people of her day.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2024, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Her wide circle of friends and acquaintances included Henry James (the two became extremely...
Intertextuality and Influence Flora Thompson
From her account it is clear how she respects, even loves, the people she describes, but also how she is not one of them, but is marked off by tiny gradations of knowledge and privilege...
Intertextuality and Influence Rhoda Broughton
Esther Craven, this novel's unworldly heroine, lives in an isolated farmhouse in the Welsh countryside and dreams of a romantic hero in a fashion reminiscent of Isobel Gilbert in Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's The Doctor's Wife.
Intertextuality and Influence Elizabeth Taylor
Several shorter stories are gems. Two of them explore respectively the experiences of birth and of death, from the viewpoint of those on the fringes of the central event. Many stories are hard on women...
Intertextuality and Influence Elizabeth Gaskell
The book was well received. The situation and character of its father and daughter probably informed Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's Joshua Haggard's Daughter (1877).
Intertextuality and Influence Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton first Baron Lytton
This was among his most controversial novels; W. Fraser Rae later praised it in his attack on Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's sensation fiction, and George Sala cited it as a laudable antecedent in her defence.
Rae, W. Fraser. “Sensation Novelists: Miss Braddon”. North British Review, Vol.
43
, 1865, pp. 180-04.
202
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Wolff, Robert Lee. Sensational Victorian. Garland, 1979.
206
Intertextuality and Influence Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton first Baron Lytton
Bulwer-Lytton in his later years mentored the young Mary Elizabeth Braddon , offering her advice on her writings, often with reference to his own. Their literary friendship lasted until his death. Charles Reade was also...
Intertextuality and Influence Anna Atkins
Though AA 's preface concedes the the talent, the ingenuity, the very clever writing of sensation-authors,
Atkins, Anna. A Page from the Peerage. T. Cautley Newby, 1863, 2 vols.
i
it also hints that they are in it for the money, and expresses outrage at what it sees...

Timeline

1532-early 1552: These years saw the gradual appearance of...

Writing climate item

1532-early 1552

These years saw the gradual appearance of the work of scurrilous, obscene, and philosophical satire generally known in English as Gargantua and Pantagruel, by François Rabelais (1483?-?9 April 1553).
Rabelais, François. The Complete Works of François Rabelais. Translator Frame, Donald M., University of California Press, 1991.
xxvii, xxviii, xxix-xxx, xxxii

1826: American-born black actor Ira Aldridge debuted...

Building item

1826

American-born black actor Ira Aldridge debuted in London as Othello at the Royalty Theatre .
Law, Jonathan et al., editors. The New Penguin Dictionary of the Theatre. Market House Books, 2001.
24
Carnell, Jennifer. The Literary Lives of Mary Elizabeth Braddon: A Study of Her Life and Work. Sensation Press, 2000.
40-1

1842: A bill to legalize marriage between a man...

Building item

1842

A bill to legalize marriage between a man and his deceased wife's sister was introduced in the House of Commons . It did not pass.
Anderson, Nancy F. “The ’Marriage with a Deceased Wife’s Sister Bill’ Controversy: Incest Anxiety and the Defense of Family Purity in Victorian England”. Journal of British Studies, Vol.
21
, No. 2, 1982, pp. 67-86.
68, 79
Behrman, Cynthia Fansler. “The Annual Blister: A Sidelight on Victorian Social History and Parliamentary History”. Victorian Studies, Vol.
11
, June 1968, pp. 483-02.
490

1843: John Maxwell founded his own publishing house...

Writing climate item

1843

John Maxwell founded his own publishing house in London.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 106. Gale Research, 1991.
106: 200

1 October-15 December 1856: Gustave Flaubert serially published his first...

Writing climate item

1 October-15 December 1856

Gustave Flaubert serially published his first novel, Madame Bovary, in the Revue de Paris.
Steegmuller, Francis. Flaubert and Madame Bovary: A Double Portrait. Macmillan, 1968.
316
Berg, William J., and Laurey Kramer Martin. Gustave Flaubert. Twayne, 1997.
xx-xxi

1858: Brothers William and Edward Tinsley formed...

Writing climate item

1858

Brothers William and Edward Tinsley formed a partnership as the Tinsley Brothers , publishers, at 18 Catherine Street, Strand, London.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 106. Gale Research, 1991.
106: 299-300

18 November 1861: The English production of Dion Boucicault's...

Writing climate item

18 November 1861

The English production of Dion Boucicault 's The Octoroon, or Life in Louisiana opened at the Adelphi Theatre , London.
Lee, Alfrida. “The 1861-1862 Season”. The Adelphi Theatre 1806-1900.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. “Introduction”. The Octoroon; or, The Lily of Louisiana, edited by Jennifer Carnell, Sensation Press, 1999, p. vii - xvii.
xi, xv

April 1863: Henry Mansel in the Quarterly Review attacked...

Writing climate item

April 1863

Henry Mansel in the Quarterly Review attacked sensation novels as preaching to the nerves and as indications of a wide-spread corruption, of which they are in part both the effect and the cause; called into...

Later 1866: Robert Williams Buchanan published an essay...

Writing climate item

Later 1866

Robert Williams Buchanan published an essay on Immorality in Authorship in the Fortnightly Review, and, under the pseudonym of Caliban in the Spectator, attacked Swinburne in a poem called The Session of the Poets.
Strevens, Adam. “Literature, Morality, and the Adversarial Principle: The Fleshly School of Poetry Quarrel and the trial of Lady Chatterleys LoverCritical Quarterly, Vol.
43
, No. 4, 2001, pp. 31-41.
32-3
Buchanan, Robert Williams. “Immorality in Authorship”. Fortnightly Review, Vol.
6
, 15 Sept. 1866, pp. 289-00.

1867: Metta Victoria Fuller Victor (a successful...

Writing climate item

1867

Metta Victoria Fuller Victor (a successful American writer and publisher, as was her husband, Orville James Victor ) serialised under the pseudonym Seeley Regester her novel The Dead Letter.
American National Biography. http://www.anb.org/articles/home.html.
under Orville James Victor
Nickerson, Catherine Ross, and Metta Victoria Fuller Victor. “Introduction”. The Dead Letter; and, The Figure Eight, Duke University Press, 2003, pp. 1-10.
1-2

1868: Tractarian F. E. Paget published his satiric...

Writing climate item

1868

Tractarian F. E. Paget published his satiric sensation novel Lucretia; or, the Heroine of the Nineteenth Century.
Wolff, Robert Lee. Sensational Victorian. Garland, 1979.
218-19

1875: Charles Reade dedicated his novel The Wandering...

Writing climate item

1875

Charles Reade dedicated his novel The Wandering Heir to Mary Elizabeth Braddonas a slight mark of respect for her private virtues and public talents.
Wolff, Robert Lee. Sensational Victorian. Garland, 1979.
250
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Wolff, Robert Lee. Sensational Victorian. Garland, 1979.
250

1876: John Maxwell sold Belgravia to Chatto and...

Writing climate item

1876

John Maxwell sold Belgravia to Chatto and Windus , ending Mary Elizabeth Braddon 's association with the monthly.
Edwards, Peter David et al. Indexes to Fiction in Belgravia 1867-1899. Victorian Fiction Research Unit, Department of English, University of Queensland, 1989.
passim

Late 1884: Publisher Henry Vizetelly produced the first...

Writing climate item

Late 1884

Publisher Henry Vizetelly produced the first English translations of Émile Zola : the novels Nana and L'Assommoir.
Wolff, Robert Lee. Sensational Victorian. Garland, 1979.
317
Chisholm, Hugh, editor. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Eleventh, Cambridge University Press, 1911.

27 June 1894: Mudie's Circulating Library and bookseller...

Writing climate item

27 June 1894

Mudie's Circulating Library and bookseller W. H. Smith together announced they would not pay more than four shillings a volume for novels; this forced publishers to abandon triple-decker format, and quickly led to its replacement...

Texts

Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. A Strange World. Donohue, Henneberry.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. A Strange World. J. Maxwell, 1875, 3 vols.
Willis, Chris et al. “Afterword”. The Trail of the Serpent, edited by Chris Willis and Chris Willis, Modern Library, 2003, pp. 408-14.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Aurora Floyd. Tinsley Brothers, 1863, 3 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Aurora Floyd. Editors Nemesvari, Richard and Lisa Surridge, Broadview, 1998.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Beyond These Voices. Hutchinson, 1910.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Birds of Prey. Ward, Lock, and Tyler, 1867, 3 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Charlotte’s Inheritance. Ward, Lock, and Tyler , 1868, 3 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Circe. Ward, Lock, and Tyler, 1867, 2 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Dead Love has Chains. Hurst and Blackett, 1907.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Dead Love Has Chains. Sensation Press, 2001.
Wolff, Robert Lee et al. “Devoted Disciple: The Letters of Mary Elizabeth Braddon to Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, 1862-1873”. Harvard Library Bulletin, Vol.
22
, 1974, pp. 1 - 35, 129.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Eleanor’s Victory. B. Tauchnitz, 1863, 2 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Eleanor’s Victory. Tinsley Brothers, 1863, 3 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. “Flower and Weed”. The Mistletoe Bough, J. and R. Maxwell, 1882.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Garibaldi and Other Poems. Bosworth and Harrison, 1861.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Henry Dunbar. J. Maxwell, 1864, 3 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Hostages to Fortune. J. Maxwell, 1875, 3 vols.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Hostages to Fortune. J. and R. Maxwell, 1876.
O’Toole, Fionn, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. “Introduction”. Vixen, Alan Sutton, 1993, p. vii - xi.
Sasaki, Toru et al. “Introduction”. John Marchmont’s Legacy, edited by Toru Sasaki et al., Oxford University Press, 1999, p. vii - xxiv.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. “Introduction”. The Octoroon; or, The Lily of Louisiana, edited by Jennifer Carnell, Sensation Press, 1999, p. vii - xvii.
Waters, Sarah, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. “Introduction”. The Trail of the Serpent, edited by Chris Willis and Chris Willis, Modern Library, 2003, p. xv - xxiv.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Ishmael. J. and R. Maxwell.
Braddon, Mary Elizabeth. Ishmael. J. and R. Maxwell, 1884, 3 vols.