Known for Children's writer Name Sarah Fitton | Role Writer | |
Died 30 March 1874 (aged 78)Paris, France Notable work Conversations on Botany (1817) | ||
Sarah Mary Fitton (c. 1796 – 30 March 1874) was an Irish writer, who had an interest in botany. She is most famous for her 1817 book, Conversations on Botany.
Contents
Life
Very little is known of Sarah Mary Fitton outside of her writing, though she is believed to have been born in Dublin. She had one brother William Henry Fitton, and two sisters, one of which was Elizabeth (fl. 1817–1834). Fitton died in Paris on 30 March 1874 at 15 rue Ville l'Evêque.
Writing and botanical work
She is known for co-authoring Conversations on Botany with her sister Elizabeth, first published in 1817. Conversations on Botany went through nine editions between 1817 and 1840. The book is composed of 18 conversations between a mother and her son which cover the principles of the Linnaean system of classification and elements of useful botany. The book was illustrated with hand-coloured plates by George Sowerby. The early editions were published anonymously, though later editions show that the majority of the text was written by Sarah, assisted by Elizabeth. Co-authorship is often erroneously attributed to Maria Elizabetha Jacson or Mrs Jane Marcet. It is credited, along with other contemporaneous works, with furthering the popularity of botany with women. The sisters also wrote The Four Seasons in 1865 together.
Later in life, Fitton wrote books and short stories for children, with some works being translated into French. She lived for a time in Paris, with her work of the time drawing on her experiences there. Her last book was published in 1866. Whilst living in Paris, Fitton befriended John Kenyan, the Carmichael-Smyths, and Eugène Sue. The Belgian botanist, Eugène Coemans named a genus of perennial flowering shrubs, Fittonia, in honour of the Fitton sisters in 1865.