Anna Brownell Jameson
Encyclopedia
Anna Brownell Jameson was a British
writer
.
Her father, Denis Brownell Murphy (died 1842), was a miniature
and enamel
painter
. He moved to England in 1798 with his family, and eventually settled at Hanwell
, London
.
At sixteen years of age, she became governess in the family of Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester
. In 1821 she was engaged to Robert Jameson
. The engagement was broken off, and Anna Murphy accompanied a young pupil to Italy
, writing in a fictitious character a narrative of what she saw and did. She gave this diary to a bookseller on condition of receiving a guitar if he secured any profits. Colburn ultimately published it as The Diary of an Ennuyée (1826), which attracted much attention. Anna Murphy was governess to the children of Edward Littleton, later created Baron Hatherton
, from 1821 to 1825, when she married Robert Simpson Jameson.
The marriage proved unhappy. In 1829, when Jameson was appointed puisne judge in the island of Dominica
, the couple separated without regret, and Jameson visited Continental Europe
again with her father.
The first work which displayed her powers of original thought was her Characteristics of Women (1832).
These analyses of William Shakespeare
's heroines are remarkable for their delicacy of critical insight and fineness of literary touch. They are the result of a penetrating but essentially feminine mind, applied to the study of individuals of its own sex, detecting characteristics and defining differences not perceived by the ordinary critic and entirely overlooked by the general reader.
German literature
and art had aroused much interest in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
, and Jameson paid her first visit to the German Confederation
in 1833. The conglomerations of hard lines, cold colours and pedantic subjects which decorated Munich
under the patronage of King Ludwig I of Bavaria
, were new to the world, and Jameson's enthusiasm first gave them an English reputation.
In 1836, Jameson was summoned to Canada
by her husband, who had been appointed chief justice of the province of Upper Canada
. He failed to meet her at New York
, and she was left to make her way alone in winter to Toronto
. Here she began the travelogue of her journey, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada, which was published in Britain in 1838. After eight months of travelling and writing in Canada, she felt it useless to prolong a life far from all ties of family happiness and opportunities for a woman of her class and education. Before leaving, she undertook a journey to the depths of the Indian
settlements in Canada; she explored Lake Huron
, and saw much of emigrant and aboriginal life unknown to colonial travellers. She returned to Great Britain
in 1837.
At this period Jameson began making careful notes of the chief private art collections in and near London.
The result appeared in her Companion to the Private Galleries (1842), followed in the same year by the Handbook to the Public Galleries. She edited the Memoirs of the Early Italian Painters in 1845. That same year she visited her friend Ottilie von Goethe. Her friendship with Annabella Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth, dates from about this time and lasted for some seven years; it was brought to an end apparently through the Baroness's unreasonable temper.
A volume of essays published in 1846 contains one of Jameson's best pieces of work, The House of Titian. In 1847 she went to Italy with her niece and subsequent biographer (Memoirs, 1878), Gerardine Bate (later the wife of the noted photographer Robert Macpherson
), to collect materials for the work on which her reputation rests: her series of Sacred and Legendary Art. The time was ripe for such contributions to the traveller's library. The Acta Sanctorum
and the Book of the Golden Legend
had had their readers, but no one had ever pointed out the connection between these tales and the works of Christian art. The way to these studies had been pointed out in the preface to Kugler's Handbook of Italian Painting by Sir Charles Eastlake
, who had intended pursuing the subject himself.
Eventually he made over to Jameson the materials and references he had collected. She recognized the extent of the ground before her as a mingled sphere of poetry, history, devotion, and art. She infected her readers with her own enthusiastic admiration; and, in spite of her slight technical and historical equipment, Jameson produced a book which thoroughly deserved its great success.
She also took a keen interest in questions affecting the education, occupations, and maintenance of her own sex.
Her early essay on The Relative Social Position of Mothers and Governesses was the work of one who knew both sides; and in no respect does she more clearly prove the falseness of the position she describes than in the certainty with which she predicts its eventual reform. To her we owe the first popular enunciation of the principle of male and female co-operation in works of mercy and education. In her later years she took up a succession of subjects all bearing on the same principles of active benevolence and the best ways of carrying them into practice. Sisters of charity, hospitals, penitentiaries, prisons, and workhouses all claimed her interest -- all more or less included under those definitions of "the communion of love and communion of labour" which are inseparably connected with her memory. To the clear and temperate forms in which she brought the results of her convictions before her friends in the shape of private lectures (published as Sisters of Charity, 1855, and The Communion of Labour, 1856) may be traced the source whence later reformers and philanthropists took counsel and courage.
She left the last of her Sacred and Legendary Art series in preparation. It was completed, under the title of The History of Our Lord in Art, by Lady Eastlake.
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Biography
Jameson was born in Dublin.Her father, Denis Brownell Murphy (died 1842), was a miniature
Portrait miniature
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolour, or enamel.Portrait miniatures began to flourish in 16th century Europe and the art was practiced during the 17th century and 18th century...
and enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. He moved to England in 1798 with his family, and eventually settled at Hanwell
Hanwell
Hanwell is a town situated in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, between Ealing and Southall. The motto of Hanwell Urban District Council was Nec Aspera Terrent...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
At sixteen years of age, she became governess in the family of Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester
Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester
Charles Ingoldsby Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester PC was a British peer and courtier, styled Earl of Wiltshire from 1794 until 1800....
. In 1821 she was engaged to Robert Jameson
Robert Sympson Jameson
Robert Sympson Jameson was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.He was born in Hampshire England in 1796 and educated in Ambleside. He studied law at the Middle Temple and was called to the English bar in 1823. He practiced in London. He married Anna Murphy, a British author, in 1825...
. The engagement was broken off, and Anna Murphy accompanied a young pupil to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, writing in a fictitious character a narrative of what she saw and did. She gave this diary to a bookseller on condition of receiving a guitar if he secured any profits. Colburn ultimately published it as The Diary of an Ennuyée (1826), which attracted much attention. Anna Murphy was governess to the children of Edward Littleton, later created Baron Hatherton
Baron Hatherton
Baron Hatherton, of Hatherton in the County of Stafford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1835 for the politician Edward Littleton, Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1833 to 1834...
, from 1821 to 1825, when she married Robert Simpson Jameson.
The marriage proved unhappy. In 1829, when Jameson was appointed puisne judge in the island of Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, the couple separated without regret, and Jameson visited Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
again with her father.
The first work which displayed her powers of original thought was her Characteristics of Women (1832).
These analyses of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's heroines are remarkable for their delicacy of critical insight and fineness of literary touch. They are the result of a penetrating but essentially feminine mind, applied to the study of individuals of its own sex, detecting characteristics and defining differences not perceived by the ordinary critic and entirely overlooked by the general reader.
German literature
German literature
German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
and art had aroused much interest in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
, and Jameson paid her first visit to the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
in 1833. The conglomerations of hard lines, cold colours and pedantic subjects which decorated Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
under the patronage of King Ludwig I of Bavaria
Ludwig I of Bavaria
Ludwig I was a German king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.-Crown prince:...
, were new to the world, and Jameson's enthusiasm first gave them an English reputation.
In 1836, Jameson was summoned to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by her husband, who had been appointed chief justice of the province of Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
. He failed to meet her at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and she was left to make her way alone in winter to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. Here she began the travelogue of her journey, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada, which was published in Britain in 1838. After eight months of travelling and writing in Canada, she felt it useless to prolong a life far from all ties of family happiness and opportunities for a woman of her class and education. Before leaving, she undertook a journey to the depths of the Indian
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
settlements in Canada; she explored Lake Huron
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
, and saw much of emigrant and aboriginal life unknown to colonial travellers. She returned to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in 1837.
The result appeared in her Companion to the Private Galleries (1842), followed in the same year by the Handbook to the Public Galleries. She edited the Memoirs of the Early Italian Painters in 1845. That same year she visited her friend Ottilie von Goethe. Her friendship with Annabella Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth, dates from about this time and lasted for some seven years; it was brought to an end apparently through the Baroness's unreasonable temper.
A volume of essays published in 1846 contains one of Jameson's best pieces of work, The House of Titian. In 1847 she went to Italy with her niece and subsequent biographer (Memoirs, 1878), Gerardine Bate (later the wife of the noted photographer Robert Macpherson
Robert Turnbull Macpherson
Robert Turnbull Macpherson was a Scottish artist and photographer who worked in Rome, Italy, in the 19th century.- Early life :...
), to collect materials for the work on which her reputation rests: her series of Sacred and Legendary Art. The time was ripe for such contributions to the traveller's library. The Acta Sanctorum
Acta Sanctorum
Acta Sanctorum is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. It begins with two January volumes, published in 1643, and ended with the Propylaeum to...
and the Book of the Golden Legend
Golden Legend
The Golden Legend is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that became a late medieval bestseller. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived, compared to twenty or so of its nearest rivals...
had had their readers, but no one had ever pointed out the connection between these tales and the works of Christian art. The way to these studies had been pointed out in the preface to Kugler's Handbook of Italian Painting by Sir Charles Eastlake
Charles Lock Eastlake
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake RA was an English painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the early 19th century.-Early life:...
, who had intended pursuing the subject himself.
Eventually he made over to Jameson the materials and references he had collected. She recognized the extent of the ground before her as a mingled sphere of poetry, history, devotion, and art. She infected her readers with her own enthusiastic admiration; and, in spite of her slight technical and historical equipment, Jameson produced a book which thoroughly deserved its great success.
She also took a keen interest in questions affecting the education, occupations, and maintenance of her own sex.
Her early essay on The Relative Social Position of Mothers and Governesses was the work of one who knew both sides; and in no respect does she more clearly prove the falseness of the position she describes than in the certainty with which she predicts its eventual reform. To her we owe the first popular enunciation of the principle of male and female co-operation in works of mercy and education. In her later years she took up a succession of subjects all bearing on the same principles of active benevolence and the best ways of carrying them into practice. Sisters of charity, hospitals, penitentiaries, prisons, and workhouses all claimed her interest -- all more or less included under those definitions of "the communion of love and communion of labour" which are inseparably connected with her memory. To the clear and temperate forms in which she brought the results of her convictions before her friends in the shape of private lectures (published as Sisters of Charity, 1855, and The Communion of Labour, 1856) may be traced the source whence later reformers and philanthropists took counsel and courage.
She left the last of her Sacred and Legendary Art series in preparation. It was completed, under the title of The History of Our Lord in Art, by Lady Eastlake.
Further reading
- Judith Johnston, 'Anna Brownell Jameson and the Monthly Chronicle, In Garlick & Harris , eds., Victorian Journalism: Exotic and Domestic (Queensland University Press, 1998)
- Judith Johnston, 'Anna Jameson: Victorian, Feminist, Woman of Letters.' Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1997.
- Gerardine Bate (Mrs. Robert) Macpherson, Memoirs of the Life of Anna Jameson (Boston, 1878)
- Richard GarnettRichard GarnettRichard Garnett C.B. was a scholar, librarian, biographer and poet. He was son of Richard Garnett, an author, philologist and assistant keeper of printed books in the British Museum....
in Dictionary of National BiographyDictionary of National BiographyThe Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, volume xxix, (London, 1892) - Thomas, Clara. 'Love and Work Enough: The Life of Anna Jameson.' Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1967.
- Jameson, Anna. (1832). Characteristics of Women: Moral, Poetical, and Historical. Saunders and Otley (reissued by Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
, 2009; ISBN 9781108000970)