Dinah Craik (1826-1887)

Dinah Maria Craik (née Mulock) was an English poet and novelist. As a writer she was known by the names Mrs Craik and Miss Mulock. Born and raised in Staffordshire, she moved to London in 1846 and became a popular member of a wide literary circle in Hampstead. She is most well known for her 1856 novel 'John Halifax, Gentleman' which presented the ideals of middle class life in Victorian England.

"Madame Guizot de Witt is well-known in France and

a charming writer for the young"

There are two letters in the Sampson Low Collection written by Dinah Craik. In this letter she writes to inform the recipients "Dear Sirs", (likely to be Sampson Low Publishers) that she is in talks with Harper Publishers in America to publish a book that is the companion to 'A French Country Family' which was written by Henriette Guizot de Witt and translated by herself. She refers to the French historian and politician François Guizot and offers to assist in undertaking further business with his daughter, Henriette Guizot de Witt. The letter is undated but is likely to have been written shortly after 'A French Country Family' was first published in 1868. 

View Dinah Craik's letter [opens in a new window]

Image Rights: © National Portrait Gallery London. By Hayman Seleg Mendelssohn albumen cabinet card circa 1885 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/