Thomas, Annie, 1838-1918

English novelist.

From the description of Autograph letter signed : Yealmpton, to Catherine Dickens, [1867 or later] Sept. 25. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270529045

From the description of Autograph letters signed (2) : Yealmpton, Devon, to Harper & Brothers, 1869 Feb. 12 and Mar. 17. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270532784

Annie Thomas was born in 1838 in Alderborough, Suffolk, England; began writing when in financial difficulties after the death of her father in 1856; produced 48 books, most of them popular novels and collections of stories; married the Rev. Pender Hodge Cudlip; published widely in magazines; attempted unsuccessfully to found a magazine titled Ours in 1878; died Nov. 24, 1918.

From the description of Papers, 1858-1907, bulk 1876-79. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 38272504

Biography

Annie Thomas was born in 1838 in Alderborough, Suffolk, England; began writing when in financial difficulties after the death of her father in 1856; produced 48 books, most of them popular novels and collections of stories; married the Reverend Pender Hodge Cudlip; published widely in magazines; attempted unsuccessfully to found a magazine titled Ours in 1878; died November 24, 1918.

Biographical Narrative

Annie Cudlip was a prolific, if minor, English Novelist of the nineteenth century. She produced 48 books, most of them popular novels and collections of stories. A representative decade (the 1860's) of her work reveals her main subjects: the demerits of men, bachelors, fallen women, feminine beauty, marriage and divorce, domesticity and motherhood. She published widely in the magazines of the day, and attempted to start one of her own, "in 1878, but did not succeed.

Very little biographical information is available. She is not listed in the DNB or in Kunitz's British Authors of the Nineteenth Century . Studies concerned with British women novelists or nineteenth century British fiction fail to mention her. What is known about her is gained only by a study of her works and available manuscript material.

The Cudlip collection consists almost entirely of correspondence. The letters of more than 150 individuals, covering the period 1858-1907, number over 200 items. The bulk of the correspondence occurs between 1875 and 1879, when Annie Cudlip was attempting to recruit contributors for her magazine. Most if these letters are in response to her solicitation of manuscripts.

Significant correspondents include literary figures such as Shirley Brooks, Lady Isabel Burton, Amelia Edwards, James Hogg, Joseph Le Fanu, G.H. Lewes (writing for George Eliot) and Mary Cliphant. Most of the significant popular novelists of the day are represented. The collection is arranged alphabetically by correspondents and each correspondent has a folder. The form for entry for items under each correspondent in the register is by number of items, number of leaves, place, and date, subarranged chronologically. The register of correspondents serves as a name index to the collection. Starred entries in the register indicate and added entry for correspondent in the Numbered Collection Catalog.

Cudlip material already in the Department of Special Collections includes only a small number of letters. The addition of this material provides an opportunity for detailed study, not only of Mrs. Cudlip, but of her literary correspondents.

From the guide to the Annie Thomas Papers, 1858-1907, bulk 1876-79, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)