Inspired by Frankenstein, this early work of science fiction has a futuristic setting of 2126 and its "monster," an intelligent mummy, serves as a friend and counselor to mankind.
Frankenstein wasn't the only classic horror novel created by a woman. Within a decade of the 1818 publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, another Englishwoman invented a foundational work of science fiction. Seventeen-year-old Jane Webb Loudon took up the theme of reanimation, moved it three hundred years into the future, and applied it to Cheops, an ancient Egyptian mummy. Unlike Shelley's horrifying, death-dealing monster, this revivified creature bears the wisdom of the ages and is eager to share his insights with humanity. Cheops boards a hot-air balloon and travels to 22nd-century England, where he sets about remedying the ills of a corrupt government. In recounting Cheops' attempts to put the futuristic society to rights, the young author offers a fascinating portrait of the preoccupations of her own era as well as some remarkably prescient predictions of technological advances. The Mummy! envisions a world in which automatons perform surgery, undersea tunnels connect England and Ireland, weather-control devices provide crop irrigation, and messages are transmitted with the speed of cannonball fire. The first novel to feature the concept of a living mummy, this pioneering tale offers an engaging mix of comedy, politics, and science fiction. Other books in the Haunted Library of Horror Classics series: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux The Beetle by Richard Marsh Vathek by William Beckford The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson The Parasite and Other Tales of Terror by Arthur Conan Doyle Of One Blood by Pauline Hopkins The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Having married a gardening expert, it seemed to Jane C Loudon, that everyone around her knew far more about plants and gardening than she did, but she quickly learned the art of horticulture from her husband and decided to pass his teachings on to other ladies to help them enjoy the delights of the garden. Gardening for Ladies was, and still is, an entirely practical book that describes how a lady can make the most of her garden in a clear and precise way. Digging over a flowerbed might have been work for a rough-handed, rope-muscled garden worker, but Jane explained how a lady could tackle the job without undue strain, and explained why it was necessary. The advice and instruction in this classic gardening book is as relevant today as it was when it was written 180 years ago.
The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century is an 1827 three-volume novel written by Jane Webb (later Jane C. Loudon). It concerns the Egyptian mummy of Cheops, who is brought back to life in the year 2126. The novel describes a future filled with advanced technology, and was the first English-language story to feature a reanimated mummy.
Meticulously accurate and breathtakingly beautiful, these delicate watercolors were executed by a leading 19th-century botanist. Highlights from Loudon's classic book offer a grand selection of 192 colorful bouquets in full color.
Loudon (nee Webb, 1807-58) was an English author and early pioneer of science fiction before the term was invented. She also created the first popular gardening manuals, as opposed to specialised horticultural works, aimed at making gardening an accessible pastime for women. Her father having died penniless in 1824 when she was only 17, Loudon turned to writing as a means of supporting herself. Her first novel The Mummy!, or a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century was published anonymously in 1827. It relates the story of the Egyptian mummy of Cheops who is is brought back to life in 2126 and describes a future filled with advanced technology. The book drew many favourably reviews, including one in 1829 in The Gardener's Magazine written by John Claudius Loudon noting the author's invention of a steam plough. Author and reviewer eventually met in 1830 and were married a year later. After her marriage Loudon turned to writing about gardening and domestic affairs, publishing a number of books on the subject.
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