Anne Manning (17 February 1807 – 14 September 1879) was an English novelist. Born in London, she was a prolific writer, having 51 works to her credit. Though her writings are now antiquated in style, they were considered to have some literary charm and a delicate historical imagination. Her best-known novel features the young wife of the poet John Milton.
Background and life
Manning initially produced two books of non-fiction, followed by her first fictional work, Village Belles (first published in 1833, though some modern sources mistakenly say 1838). Her best known works were initially printed as serials in Sharpe's Magazine and later published in book form. She is best known for The Maiden and Married Life of Mary Powell, afterwards Mistress Milton, which first appeared anonymously in 1849 and was later just referred to as Mary Powell. It is derived from the story of the young wife of John Milton. She is also known for The Household of Sir Thomas More, a picture of More's home life in the form of a diary written by his daughter Margaret.
Mary Powell was so popular that her subsequent works simply identified Manning as "The Author of Mary Powell," otherwise remaining anonymous. A number of sources subsequently attributed the pseudonym of "Mary Powell" to Hannah Mary Rathbone, whose The Diary of Lady Willoughby (1844) was similar in style to Manning, and erroneously suggested that Manning had at some point married and become Mrs. Rathbone. Manning and Rathbone both released a number of works which used Caslon Old Face font, to add a visual element to the notion that their works were actual diaries of long ago persons.
