Mary Botham, an English writer of poetry, history, and fiction, was born at Coleford, Gloucestershire, England, on March 12, 1799, of Quaker parents. She was educated at home and in Quaker schools. In 1821 she was married to William Howitt, also a poet as well as a druggist and an alderman in Nottingham. In 1842 the Howitts moved to Heidelberg, where their children were being educated. From 1842 to 1863, Mrs. Howitt translated Frederika Bremer's novels as well as some of Hans Christian Andersen's tales. In 1870 the Howitts removed to Italy for the winters and to the Tyrol for the summers. She died in Rome, January 30, 1888, after having written or translated over one hundred books, either alone or with her husband.

REFERENCES: Mary Howitt, an Autobiography; Obituary in Publishers' Weekly, XXXIII, 1888, 399; Allibone, Dict. Eng. Lit.

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