Jane C. Webb Loudon (August 19, 1807 – July 13, 1858) was an early pioneer of science fiction, long before the term was invented, so that she was discussed for a century as a writer of Gothic fiction or fantasy or horror, though she did none of these things as we now categorize fiction. She is better known for her work in creating the first popular gardening manuals, providing an alternative to the specialist horticultural tomes of her time, and ...
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Jane C. Webb Loudon (August 19, 1807 – July 13, 1858) was an early pioneer of science fiction, long before the term was invented, so that she was discussed for a century as a writer of Gothic fiction or fantasy or horror, though she did none of these things as we now categorize fiction. She is better known for her work in creating the first popular gardening manuals, providing an alternative to the specialist horticultural tomes of her time, and for her contributions to the work of her husband, John Claudius Loudon.
Jane Webb was born in 1807 to the wife of the wealthy Thomas Webb, Esq., of Kitwell House, Bartley Green near Birmingham. While early raised in luxury, in consequence of over speculation her father's fortune evaporated. He died penniless in 1824, when she was only 17.
As she later wrote, after her father's death she found "on the winding up of his affairs that it would be necessary to do something for my support. I had written a strange, wild novel, called the Mummy, in...
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