Anna Jameson's reputation as a learned author of lively, often controversial works on various subjects was well established among her Victorian readers and her circle of influential friends, which included such prominent women writers as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Harriet Martineau, and Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, as well as Lady Byron (Annabella Milbanke) and the renowned Shakespearean actress Fanny Kemble. Jameson published twenty-nine books on subjects ranging from art and literary criticism to treatises on the social position of women. Significant among her works are her travel writings, particularly those concerning her European journeys and her brief residence and travels in Canada. Jameson's works, especially her travel writings, are of interest to late-twentieth-century audiences because they privilege a voice and perspective that were rare for her time. To readers well versed in feminist theory and politics, Jameson's writings appear surprisingly modern.

Jameson was born Anna Brownell Murphy in Dublin, Ireland...