— The Corvey Poets Project at the University of Nebraska —

British Poetry of the later Eighteenth and Earlier Nineteenth Centuries

Bibliographical and Contextual Apparatus

Tales of Superstition and Chivalry. London: Vernor and Hood, 1802. Pp. vi+144.

Biographical Information

Anne Bannerman was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on October 31, 1765, to Isobel (Dick) and William Bannerman. Her father was a street ballad singer and a merchant. Bannerman was part of the Edinburgh poetic circle which also included individuals such as John Leyden, Thomas Campbell, and Doctor Robert Anderson. (Craciun) In 1800, she published her first work, Poems, with the assistance of William Erskine, Walter Scott and Anderson. The pieces composing the volume dated back to around 1790, including "odes, translations, ten 'Sonnets from Werter' and 'The Nun' which gives a Mme de Genlis story a new unhappy ending." (Blain, 56) This volume of poetry was received positively in reviews despite its inability to sell well. (Craciun)

In 1802, Bannerman anonymously published Tales of Superstition and Chivalry, a volume of ballads about ghosts, female prophets and mythical stories. This volume was complete with an appendix of scholarly notes serving as reference for historical portrayals within the poems. She admired the work of Joanna Baillie while her own work was admired by poets Anne Grant and Sir Walter Scott. (Craciun)

In December of 1803, Bannerman's mother died. Shortly thereafter, she also lost her brother while he was in Jamaica. Bannerman became impoverished as a result of both losses. A man by the name of Dr. Robert Anderson suggested she submit her poems for a second edition in hope of gaining some capital. (Lee, 1059) This idea was acted upon and in 1807 a second edition combining both Poems and Tales of Superstition and Chivalry was published at Edinburgh titled, Poems. A New Edition. (Craciun) This second edition, dedicated to Lady Charlotte Rawdon, sold to 250 subscribers at one guinea apiece. (Lee)

Soon after, Bannerman moved to Exeter and worked as a governess to Lady Frances Beresford's daughter. "She was much quoted by other women; as a 'shattered' invalid living at Portobello, Edinburgh, she impressed Anne Grant with her intellect and piety." (Blain, 57) Invalid and in debt, Bannerman died at Portobello, near Edinburgh, on September 29, 1829. The only known republication of Bannerman's works since 1830 was in Romantic Women Poets: Volume II (1998) by Andrew Ahsfield. (Craciun)

Sources

Blain, Virginia, Patricia Clements, and Isobel Grundy, eds. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. New Haven: Yale UP, 1990.
Craciun, Adriana. "Anne Bannerman: A Critical Introduction." Scottish Women Poets of The Romantic Period. Eds. Nancy Kushigian and Stephen Behrendt. 2001. Univeristy of Chicago. Dec 12, 2004. <http:// http://www.alexanderstreet2.com.library.unl.edu/SWRPLive/index.html>
Stephen, Sir Leslie and Sir Sidney Lee. The Dictionary of National Biography. London: Oxford University Press, 1920.

Prepared by Cheney Luttich, University of Nebraska, December 2004.
     © Cheney Luttich, 2004.