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Life
| 1780-1832 [var. 1781]; b. Durham, dg. of surgeon to Inniskilling Regt., of Irish family; enjoyed success with The Hungarian Brothers (1807), a tale of the French Revolution; Don Sebastian (1809); Honor O’Hara (1826), set in the North of England; The Lake of Killarney (London, Tegg, new edn. 1839), a sentimental rom. set in Napoleonic days which ‘endeavours to draw amiable portraits of virtue’ (Pref.), later reissued as Rose de Blacquiere; her sis. of Jane Porter wrote The Scottish Chiefs, and Thaddeus of Warsaw, while a br., Robert Ker Porter, became a diplomist and artist; her sister Jane was also a writer [q.v.]. PI IF OCEL. |
Commentary
George Saintsbury, Short History of English Literature, remarks on Jane Porter (1776-1850) [‘the excellent Jane Porter’, supra] and Anna Maria Porter (1780-1832), sisters who ‘wrote many novels in a style partly Radcliffian, with more sentiment, more history, and less mystery. The most famous, Thaddeus of Warsaw (1803) and The Scottish Chiefs (1810) were Jane’s, undoubtedly preceded Waverley in time, but were utterly different [i.e., inferior] in quality.’ ftn. P.678).
References
D. J. O’Donoghue, Poets of Ireland (Dublin: Hodges Figgis 1912), lists Ballad Romances and Other Poems (London 1811; 2nd edn. Philadelphia 1816); dg. surgeon to Inniskillings; Irish family; b. Durham 1781 [sic]; various novels; sis. of Jane Porter who wrote The Scottish Chiefs, and Thaddeus of Warsaw, and br. of Robert Ker Porter, artist-diplomist. See OCEL [also entry on Jane Porter].
British Library holds Anna Maria Porter, [1] Walsh Colville: or, a Young man’s first entrance into life. A novel.[By Anna Maria Porter.]. pp. 218. Lee & Hurst; T. C. Jones: London, 1797. 8o. [2] A sailor’s friendship, and a soldier’s love.[By Anna Maria Porter.]. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, 1805. 2 vol. 12o. [3] Ballad Romances, and other poems. [Another edition.]. London, 1811. 12o. Philadelphia, 1816. 12o. [4] Coming Out; a tale of the nineteenth century. [5] Don Sébastien, roi de Portugal, roman historique ... Traduit de l’anglais par le traducteur du Polonais, &c.[-de Sennevas.]. 3 tom. Paris, 1820. 12o. [6] Don Sebastian; or, the House of Braganza. An historical romance. [Another edition.]. 4 vol. London, 1809. 12o. London [1850?] 12o. [7] Gilmour, ou le dernier Lockinge, roman historique des deux roses d’Angleterre. Par A. M. Porter[or rather, by an anonymous writer] ... Traduit de l’anglais par J. Cohen.. 3 tom. Paris, 1829. 12o. [8] Honor O’Hara. A novel, &c. 3 vol. London, 1826. 12o. [9] Honorine O’Hara, traduit de l’anglais ... par J. Cohen.. 4 tom. Paris, 1827. 12o. [10] Le Chevalier de Saint-Jean. Traduit de l’anglais ... par J. Cohen.. 4 tom. Paris, 1818. 12o. [11] Le Jeûne de Sainte Magdeleine, ou les illustres proscrits. Roman, traduit de l’anglois.. 3 tom. Paris, 1819. 12o. [12] Le Reclus de Norvège ... Traduit de l’anglais, par Mme Élisabeth de B[on], &c. 4 tom. Paris, 1815. 12o. [13] Le Village de Mariendorpt ... Traduit de l’anglais par M. H. de Janory.. 4 tom. Paris, 1821. 12o. [14] Les Frères hongrois. Roman traduit de l’Anglais ... sur la troisième édition; par Mlle. Aline de L.[Verdier de Lacoste.]. 3 tom. Paris, 1818. 12o. [15] Octavia. Traduit de l’anglois.. 3 tom. Paris, an VII.[1799?] 12o. [16] Roche-Blanche; or, the Hunters of the Pyrenees. A romance, &c. 3 vol. London, 1822. 12o. [17] Roche-Blanche, ou les Chasseurs des Pyrénées ... Traduit de l’anglais par Mme. Collet.. 5 tom. Paris, 1822. 12o. [18] Rose de Blaquière; or, the Lake of Kilarney. ... New edition.. London,[1857.] 8o. [19] The Barony.. 3 vol. London, 1830. 12o. [20] The Fast of St. Magdalen; a romance. Second edition.. 3 vol. London, 1818. 12o. 3 vol. London, 1819. 12o. [21] The Hungarian Brothers.. 3 vol. London, 1807. 12o. [22] The Hungarian Brothers ... The second edition. The third edition. [Another edition.] [Another edition.] [Another edition.]. 3 vol. Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme: London, 1808. 12o. 3 vol. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1814. 12o. London,[1872.] 8o. [23] The Hungarian Brothers ... vol. 1.. pp. 250. J. & B. Williams: Exeter, 1836. 8o. [24] The Knight of St. John, a romance ... The second edition, &c. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1817. 3 vol. 12o. [25] The Knight of St. John, a romance, &c. [Another edition.]. 3 vol. London, 1817. 12o. London, 1852. 8o. [26] The Lake of Killarney. A novel.. London, 1838. 12o. [27] The Recluse of Norway ... Second edition. [Another edition.]. 4 vol. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown: London, 1816. 12o. London, 1852. 8o. [28] The Recluse of Norway, &c. 4 vol. London, 1814. 12o. [29] The Village of Mariendorpt. A tale, &c. London, 1821. 12o. [30] Tales round a Winter Hearth.. 2 vol. London, 1826. 12o.
Belfast Central Public Library holds Ballad Romances (1811); The Lake of Killarney (1804).
English Novels 1830-36: A Bibliography of British Fiction (Cardiff) lists The Barony. By Miss Anna Maria Porter. In Three Volumes. (London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row, 1830), Vol. I: vi, 491p; Vol. II: 494pp.; Vol. III: 558pp., 12° boards [[27s.; first notived 8 May 1830; held in 16 libraries. Prefatory ‘To the Reader’, pp.[v]–vi, dated ‘Esher, April, 1830’, notes that ‘the whole plan of her work was laid, and one volume already written and in the hands of the printer, before the memorable Bill for Catholic Emancipation was even spoken of as in contemplation’, adding that ‘Private circumstances afterwards suspended both the progress and the publication. Meanwhile the story could not be remodelled; so that its narrator saw herself obliged to use much discretion, in the delicate task of arranging her imagined and historical materials’ (p.[v]). Printer’s marks and colophons of A. and R. Spottiswoode, New Street Square. Further edns. (New York 1830). [See English Novels 1830-26 - online; accessed 20.06.2010.]
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