Anne Bannerman (31 October 1765 – 29 September 1829) was a Scottish poet. She was part of the Edinburgh literary circle which included

John Leyden John Caspar Leyden, M.D., (8 September 1775 – 28 August 1811) was a Scottish indologist. Biography Leyden was born at Denholm on the River Teviot, not far from Hawick. His father, a shepherd, had contrived to send him to Edinburgh University ...

, Jessie Stewart,

Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Thomas Campbell (poet) (1777–1844), Scottish poet * Thomas Campbell (sculptor) (1790–1858), Scottish sculptor * Thomas Campbell (visual artist) (born 1969), California-based visual artist ...

, and Robert Anderson. Her work was popular in her lifetime and "remains significant for her Gothic ballads, as well as for her innovative sonnet series and her bold original odes."

Early life

Bannerman was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to Isobel (''née'' Dick) and William Bannerman, a "running stationer" licensed to sell ballads in the streets.

Career

Bannerman's early work was published, often pseudonymously, in periodicals, notably the ''Monthly Magazine'', the ''Poetical Register'', and the '' Edinburgh Magazine'', the latter of which was edited by her friend and supporter, Dr Robert Anderson. She was read and admired by

Thomas Park Thomas Park (1759–1834) was an English antiquary and bibliographer, also known as a literary editor. Life He was the son of parents who lived at East Acton, Middlesex. When ten years old he was sent to a grammar school at Heighington, County ...

, James Currie, Bishop Thomas Percy,

Anne Grant Anne Grant often styled Mrs Anne Grant of Laggan (21 February 1755 – 7 November 1838) was a Scottish poet and author best known for her collection of mostly biographical poems ''Memoirs of an American Lady'' as well as her earlier work ''Letter ...

, and antiquary

Joseph Cooper Walker Joseph Cooper Walker (c.1762–1810) was an Irish antiquarian and writer. Life Walker was born in Dublin and educated under Thomas Ball. An invalid with acute asthma, in his earlier years he travelled a great deal for his health, and for many year ...

. Her first volume, ''Poems'' (1800), was well regarded but did not sell well. It contains a series of

ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...

s, original

sonnets A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

, a sonnet series translated from

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

, and another based on '' The Sorrows of Werther''. In these two latter Bannerman developed

Joanna Baillie Joanna Baillie (11 September 1762 – 23 February 1851) was a Scottish poet and dramatist, known for such works as ''Plays on the Passions'' (three volumes, 1798–1812) and ''Fugitive Verses'' (1840). Her work shows an interest in moral philoso ...

's theory of dramatic composition — her stated intent to focus on the progress of one master passion — and applied it to poetry. Her second collection, ''Tales of Superstition and Chivalry'' (1802) was published anonymously. It consisted of ten Gothic ballads and four engravings and did not fare so well with reviewers, in part because of her penchant for the strain of obscurity and ambiguity within the Gothic tradition. Her ballads were, however, praised by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

.Walter Scott, "Essay on imitations of the ancient ballad," ''Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border'' (1830). Rev. and ed. T.F. Henderson. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1932. Vol. 4.16–17. After the deaths of her mother and brother, she struggled financially and was a governess for a period despite precarious health. Although various of her friends supported her and sought to procure her a pension, such attempts were largely unsuccessful and she died in debt on 29 September 1829. Contemporary scholars are rediscovering her work and she is the subject of several recent studies.

Works

* ''Poems by Anne Bannerman'' (Edinburgh: Mundel / London:Longman, 1800), including "The Mermaid," "The Genii," "The Nun," and "Ode: the Spirit of the Air" * "Epistle from the Marquis de Lafayette to General Washington" (attrib.; 1800) * ''

Tales of Superstition and Chivalry ''Tales of Superstition and Chivalry'' was an illustrated Gothic fiction, Gothic ballad collection written by Anne Bannerman. It was published anonymously by Vernor and Hood in 1802, two years after her first volume, ''Poems''. The reviews of ''T ...

'' (pub. anon.; London: Ann Vernor and Thomas Hood, 1802)
Etext
British Women Romantic Poets Project). * ''Poems, by Anne Bannerman. A New Edition'' (pub. by subscription; 1807), including "To Miss Baillie" *"On the loss of a child in infancy." ''The Casket, a Miscellany, Consisting of Unpublished Poems''. (London: John Murray, 1829, pp. 349–350). *"The Exile." ''The Laurel. Fugitive Poetry of the XIXth Century''. (London: John Sharpe, 1830, pp. 290–291).

Notes

Bibliography

* "Bannerman, Anne (1765–1829)." ''The Feminist Companion to Literature in English''. Virginia Blain, et al., eds. New Haven and London: Yale UP, 1990. 56-57. * "Bannerman, Anne." The Women's Print History Project, 2019, Person ID 15. Accessed 2022-08-08.
WPHP
* Craciun, Adriana.

"

'. 2005. * Craciun, Adriana.
Bannerman, Anne (1765–1829)
" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 28 Mar. 2007.

Etexts

*"The Exile." ''The Laurel. Fugitive Poetry of the XIXth Century''. (London: John Sharpe, 1830, pp. 290–291).
HathiTrust
*"On the loss of a child in infancy." ''The Casket, a Miscellany, Consisting of Unpublished Poems''. (London: John Murray, 1829, pp. 349–350)
Internet Archive
*''Poems''. A new ed. Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell, Doig, & Stevenson, 1807.
HathiTrust
*''

'' (pub. anon.; London: Ann Vernor and Thomas Hood, 1802)
Internet Archive

British Women Romantic Poets Project).

External links

* *Craciun, Adriana.
Anne Bannerman: A Critical Introduction. Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period
" Archived. Accessed 8 Aug. 2022. * Crone-Romanovski, Mary, Sharon Estes, and Robi Rhodes.

'. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bannerman, Anne 1765 births 1829 deaths 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers 19th-century Scottish writers 19th-century Scottish women writers Writers from Edinburgh Ballads Pseudonymous women writers Romantic poets Writers of the Romantic era Writing circles Scottish women poets 19th-century pseudonymous writers