Portal:Biography/Selected article/July 19

Mary Martha Sherwood (née Butt) (May 6, 1775 – September 22, 1851) was a prolific and influential writer of children's literature in nineteenth-century Britain. She composed over 400 books, tracts, magazine articles, and chapbooks. Sherwood is known primarily for the strong evangelicalism that colored her early writings; however, her later works are characterized by common Victorian themes, such as domesticity. After she married Captain Henry Sherwood and moved to India, she converted to evangelical Christianity and began to write for children. The Sherwoods returned to England after a decade in India and, building upon her popularity, Sherwood opened a boarding school and published scores of texts for children and the poor. Many of Sherwood's books were bestsellers and she has been described as "one of the most significant authors of children's literature of the nineteenth century." Her works fell from favor as a different style of children's literature came into fashion during the late nineteenth century, one exemplified by Lewis Carroll's playful and nonsensical Alice in Wonderland. (Read more...)