Mitford, Mary Russell

Mitford, Mary Russell, 1787–1855, English author. Her first volume of poetry (1810) sold well despite adverse criticism. Later she turned to playwriting, writing one notable success, Rienzi (1828). Our Village (5 vol., 1824–32), a series of gently humorous rural sketches, established her reputation and gained for her a wide following. Her later works include a novel, Belford Regis (1835); other series of tales, such as Atherton (1854); and Recollections of a Literary Life (1852).

See her letters (ed. by A. G. K. L'Estrange, 2 vol., 1870).

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