This article is about the 19th-century author. For the 17th century benefactor of Harvard, see Ann (Radcliffe) Mowlson.

Ann Radcliffe (July 9, 1764 - February 7, 1823) was an English author, a pioneer of the gothic novel. is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Holborn (pronounced ho-bun or ho-burn) is a place in London, named after a tributary to the river Fleet that flowed through the area, the Hole-bourne (the stream in the hollow). ... is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about work. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... Lady Anne Moulson (sometimes Ann and/or Mowlson), born Anne Radcliffe (sometimes Radclyffe) (?-1661), was an early benefactor of the fledgling colonial Harvard College. ... is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1764 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... Strawberry Hill, an English villa in the Gothic revival style, built by seminal Gothic writer Horace Walpole The gothic novel was a literary genre that belonged to Romanticism and began in the United Kingdom with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ...

Biography

Radcliffe was born Ann Ward in Holborn. She married William Radcliffe, an editor for the English Chronicle, at Bath in 1788. The couple was childless. To amuse herself, she began to write fiction, which her husband encouraged. Holborn (pronounced ho-bun or ho-burn) is a place in London, named after a tributary to the river Fleet that flowed through the area, the Hole-bourne (the stream in the hollow). ... , Bath is a small city in Somerset, England most famous for its historic baths fed by three hot springs. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

She published The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne in 1789. It set the tone for the majority of her work, which tended to involve innocent, but heroic young women who find themselves in gloomy, mysterious castles ruled by even more mysterious barons with dark pasts. Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...

Her works were extremely popular among the upper class and the growing middle class, especially among young women. Her works included A Sicilian Romance (1790), The Romance of the Forest (1791), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and The Italian (1796). The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe, was published in the summer of 1794 by G. G. and J. Robinson of London in 4 volumes. ... The Italian (1800) is a novel belonging to the Gothic genre and written by the English author Ann Radcliffe. ...

The success of The Romance of the Forest established Radcliffe as the leading exponent of the historical Gothic romance. Her later novels met with even greater attention, and produced many imitators, and famously, Jane Austen's burlesque of The Mysteries of Udolpho in Northanger Abbey, as well as influencing the works of Sir Walter Scott. The gothic novel is an English literary genre, which can be said to have been born with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ... 1873 engraving of Jane Austen, based on a portrait drawn by her sister Cassandra. ... In literary criticism, the term burlesque is employed as a term in genre criticism, to describe any imitative work that derives humor from an incongruous contrast between style and subject. ... The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe, was published in the summer of 1794 by G. G. and J. Robinson of London in 4 volumes. ... For films named Northanger Abbey, see Northanger Abbey (1986 film) or Northanger Abbey (2007 TV drama). ... For the first Premier of Saskatchewan see Thomas Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott (August 14, 1771 - September 21, 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe. ...

Stylistically, Radcliffe was noted for her vivid descriptions of exotic locales, though in reality the author had rarely or never visited the actual locations.

She died on February 7, 1823 from respiratory problems probably caused by pneumonia. This article is about human pneumonia. ...

In popular culture

Paul Féval, père used her as his protagonist in the novel La Ville Vampire (translated as Vampire City). Paul Henri Corentin Féval, père (17 September 1817 - 8 March 1887) was a French novelist and dramatist. ...

In the film Becoming Jane, she is portrayed by Helen McCrory, in a scene where she meets Jane Austen and encourages her to embark on a writing career (there is no historical evidence of such a meeting, though as noted Radcliffe's works had clearly influenced Austen's). Becoming Jane is a Miramax film that was released in 2007. ... Helen McCrory (born 1968) is a British actress known primarily for her stage and television work. ... 1873 engraving of Jane Austen, based on a portrait drawn by her sister Cassandra. ...

Influence on later writers

• Jane Austen
• William Makepeace Thackeray
• Sir Walter Scott
• William Wordsworth
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Percy Bysshe Shelley
• John Keats
• Lord Byron
• Charles Dickens's Little Dorrit (1855-7)
• Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White (1860)
• The Brontës
  • Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847)
• Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1938)
• Witold Gombrowicz's Possessed, or The Secret of Myslotch: A Gothic Novel (1939)
• Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Oval Portrait drew from Udolpho and mentions Radcliffe by name (somewhat disparagingly) in the introduction.

1873 engraving of Jane Austen, based on a portrait drawn by her sister Cassandra. ... William Makepeace Thackeray (July 18, 1811 – December 24, 1863) was a British novelist of the 19th century. ... For the first Premier of Saskatchewan see Thomas Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott (August 14, 1771 - September 21, 1832) was a prolific Scottish historical novelist and poet popular throughout Europe. ... William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850) was a major English romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their 1798 joint publication, Lyrical Ballads. ... Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4, 1792 – July 8, 1822; pronounced ) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among the finest lyric poets of the English language. ... Keats grave in Rome (left). ... “Byron” redirects here. ... “Dickens” redirects here. ... Little Dorrit is a serial novel by Charles Dickens published originally between 1855 and 1857. ... Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and writer of short stories. ... The Woman in White is an epistolary novel written by Wilkie Collins and published in 1859. ... The Brontë sisters, painted by their brother, Branwell c. ... Charlotte Brontë (IPA: ) (April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855) was an English novelist and the eldest of the three Brontë sisters whose novels have become timeless pieces of English literature. ... This article is about the Victorian novel. ... Dame Daphne du Maurier DBE (13 May 1907–19 April 1989) was a famous British novelist best known for her short story The Birds and her classic novel Rebecca, published in 1938. ... Rebecca is a novel by British author Daphne du Maurier. ... Witold Marian Gombrowicz (August 4, 1904 in Małoszyce, near Kielce, Congress Poland, Russian Empire – July 24, 1969 in Vence, near Nice, France) was a Polish novelist and dramatist. ... Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American poet, short story writer, playwright, editor, literary critic, essayist and one of the leaders of the American Romantic Movement. ... The Oval Portrait is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe involving the disturbing tale of a portrait in a chateau. ...

Publications include

• The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1 volume), 1789, gothic novel. ISBN 0-19-282357-4
• A Sicilian Romance (2 vols.) 1790, gothic novel. ISBN 0-19-283666-8
• The Romance of the Forest (3 vols.) 1791, gothic novel. ISBN 0-19-283713-3
• The Mysteries of Udolpho (4 vols.) 1794. ISBN 0-19-282523-2
• The Italian (3 vols.) 1797. ISBN 0-14-043754-1
• Gaston de Blondeville (4 vols.) 1826, reprinted in 2006 by Valancourt Books ISBN 0-9777841-0-X

The Mysteries of Udolpho, by Ann Radcliffe, was published in the summer of 1794 by G. G. and J. Robinson of London in 4 volumes. ... The Italian (1800) is a novel belonging to the Gothic genre and written by the English author Ann Radcliffe. ... Gaston de Blondeville is an 1826 Gothic novel by noted British author Ann Radcliffe. ...

External links

• Works by Ann Radcliffe at Project Gutenberg
• Listing in 'The Literary Gothic'
• Listing in The Victorian Web
• Book description for Gaston de Blondeville at Valancourt Books
• Listing at Zittaw Press
• Ruth Facer, 'Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823)' at www.chawton.org
• Biography, links, and e-texts at The Literary Gothic
• Biography and brief description of her writing