Juliana Horatia Ewing

Infobox Writer
name = Juliana Horatia Ewing


caption = Juliana Horatia Ewing
birthdate = birth date|1841|8|3|df=yes
Ecclesfield, England
deathdate = death date and age|1885|5|16|1841|8|3|df=yes
Somerset, England
occupation = Novelist
genre =
movement =
influences =
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Juliana Horatia Ewing (née Gatty) (1841–1885) was an English writer of children's stories. She was the second of ten children of the Reverend Alfred Gatty, the vicar of Ecclesfield in Yorkshire, and Margaret Gatty, who was herself a children's author.

On June 1, 1867, she was married to Major Alexander Ewing (1830-1895) of the army pay department. Within a week of their marriage, Ewing left England for Nova Scotia, Canada, where her husband had received a new posting. They remained there for two years, before returning to England in 1869. Though her husband was sent overseas again, to Malta in 1879 and Sri Lanka in 1881, her poor health would not allow her to accompany him. In 1885, she moved to Bath, in the hopes that the change of air would do her good. However, her health continued to deteriorate, and after an unsuccessful operation, she died there on May 13, 1885. She was given a military funeral at Trull, Somerset, three days later.

Roger Lancelyn Green calls her works the "first outstanding child-novels" in English literature. [Roger Lancelyn Green, "The Golden Age of Children's Books," in: Sheila Egoff, G. T. Stubbs, and L. F. Ashley, eds., "Only Connect: Readings on Children's Literature," New York, Oxford University Press; second edition, 1980; p. 8.] Among her works, which are notable for their sympathetic insight into child-life, their admiration for military life, and their reflection of her strong Anglican faith, are: "Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances" (1869), "A Flat Iron for a Farthing" (1872), "Six to Sixteen" (1875), "Jan of the Windmill" (1876), "Jackanapes" (1884), and "The Story of a Short Life" (1885).

A talented artist herself, her works were frequently illustrated by such notables as George Cruikshank and Randolph Caldecott. She was also the editor of a number of magazines which published short stories for children, such as the "Nursery Magazines" from 1856 onwards, the "Monthly Packet" and the monthly "Aunt Judy's Magazine" from 1866.

References

External links

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* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17085 Juliana Horatia Ewing and her books] by Horatia K. F. Eden, 1896, from Project Gutenberg
* [http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/UFDC/?c=juv&m=hrah&t=juliana+horatia,,,&f=FC,+TX,+FC,+TI Juliana Horatia Ewing] books with full images of all pages, covers, and spines in the University of Florida Digital Collections