author
Annie Matheson
1853–1924
A Victorian poet and biographer whose work blends reflective lyricism with a deep interest in moral and spiritual life. She is also remembered for writing an early biography of Florence Nightingale and for contributing prose as well as verse.
1 Audiobook
Florence Nightingale: A Biography
by Annie Matheson
About the author
Born in Blackheath, London, in 1853, Annie Matheson became known as a British Victorian poet, essayist, and biographer. She was the daughter of the Rev. James Matheson, and her writing life appears to have grown out of a strongly literary and religious home environment.
She published several volumes of poetry, often noted for their meditative and lyrical character, and she also wrote for children and contributed literary criticism and prose. One of the works most often mentioned in accounts of her career is her biography of Florence Nightingale, which helped secure her place among late Victorian women writers.
Matheson died in 1924. Though she is less widely read today than some of her contemporaries, her mix of poetry, devotional reflection, and biographical writing gives a good picture of the quieter, thoughtful side of Victorian literary culture.