Favell Lee Mortimer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Favell Lee Mortimer

Favell Lee Mortimer (born July 14, 1802 in London , † August 22, 1878 , born Favell Lee Bevan) was an English author of non-fiction books for children.

Life

Favell Lee Mortimer was born on July 14, 1802 in Russell Square , London, as one of five daughters of David Bevan. David Bevan was a co-founder of the Barclay, Bevan & Co banking house . Despite her upbringing as a Quaker , she began studying the Bible with the future Cardinal Henry Manning at the age of 25 . For a long time she harbored violent romantic, but unrequited, feelings for Henry Manning. She later converted to the evangelical faith . In 1841 she married Reverend Thomas Mortimer, who was a cruel husband to her. After moving to Broseley , she spent most of her time with her brother to protect herself from her husband's outbursts of anger. She had an adopted son named Lethbridge Charles E. Moore. Her husband died in 1850. As a widow, Favell Lee Mortimer devoted himself primarily to working with orphans and the poor. She died in August 1878 at the age of 76. Her last 16 years she lived in West Runton in the "Rivulet House" on the corner of Cromer Road and Water Lane, her burial place is in Sheringham .

plant

Favell Lee Mortimer published 16 non-fiction books for children. By the end of the 19th century, one million copies of her first and most popular work, The Peep of Day had already been sold. The Peep of Day is published in 38 languages. In the 19th century, Mortimer was very popular and successful as a writer. Favell Mortimer once visited Brussels and Paris as a girl and Edinburgh as a widow . So even though she had only left England twice in her life, she wrote three geography books, including The Countries of Europe Described . She used printed sources and the content of her works on geography was primarily a collection of the then common prejudices about the countries of the world and their people. For example, she wrote about China, where "it is very common to stumble upon the corpses of babies in the streets".

Mortimers Reading Disentangled from 1834 is innovative , a work with a series of illustrated maps that have been described as the first illustration panels in history.

Her works were no longer published at the beginning of the 20th century because their way of writing was no longer considered appropriate for political reasons. In addition, her works appeared anonymously and after The Peep of the Day under the "pseudonym" the author of the peep of the day and so the author was temporarily forgotten. Today a number of her works are available again in print.

personality

Favell Lee Mortimer's nephew Edwyn Bevan described her in an article in the London Times in 1933 on the centenary of The Peep of Day as follows: “As a whole, one can hardly call her life happy.” In the biography of Mortimer, which her niece Louisa Clara Meyer wrote in 1901 wrote, one reads: "Your doctor said she was the only person he had ever met who wanted to die." At the end of her life, Favell Mortimer developed very eccentric idiosyncrasies. For example, she wanted to teach a donkey to swim and she dug a lamb in the sand to dry its fur.

Criticism of Favell Lee Mortimer's work

Todd Pruzan looks Favell Lee Mortimer in a row with evangelical writers since the beginning of the 18th century , "the happiness and salvation through complete submission to God promised" . Meena Khorana, professor of English and youth literature, said: "She was very extreme, very didactic ... with no artistry ... Mrs. Mortimer's texts read like spoken instructions to children, mainly with the aim of terrifying them."

Works

  • Reading Disentangled , 1834
  • The peep of day, or, A series of the earliest religious instruction the infant mind is capable of receiving , 1836
  • Line upon Line , 1837
  • More about Jesus , 1839
  • Near Home, or, The Countries of Europe Described , George Appleby & Sons, New York 1852
  • Far Off: Asia and Australia Described , Hatchard & Co, London 1852
  • Far Off Part II, Africa and America Described , Hatchard & Co, London 1854
  • Reading without Tears , 1857

Current book editions

  • The Peep of Day: A Family Devotional Guide to the Bible (Paperback) , Publisher: Kessinger Pub Co, 2004, ISBN 978-1-4191-4663-3
  • Favell Lee Mortimer, Todd Pruzan: The Worst Countries in the World, Mrs. Mortimer's Bad Mood Travel Guide , Publisher: Malik, 2007, ISBN 978-3-89029-326-4
  • Louisa Clara Meyer, Favell Lee Bevan, Frederick Brotherton Meyer: Biography The Author of the Peep of Day. Being the life story of Mrs. Mortimer, etc. With plates, including portraits

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Megan A. Norcia, X Marks the Spot. Women Writers Map the Empire for British Children, 1790-1895 , Ohio Univ. Press 2010, ISBN 978-0-8214-1907-6 , p. 70
  2. ^ Favell Lee Mortimer, Todd Pruzan: The most hideous countries in the world , p. 11, Publisher: Malik, 2007, ISBN 978-3-89029-326-4
  3. ↑ Favell Lee Mortimer, Todd Pruzan: The most hideous countries in the world , p. 20, Publisher: Malik, 2007, ISBN 978-3-89029-326-4
personal data
SURNAME Mortimer, Favell Lee
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bevan, Favell Lee (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English author of non-fiction books for children
DATE OF BIRTH July 14, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1878