An account of Mary Anning (1799-1847), fossil collector of Lyme Regis, Dorset, England, published by Henry Rowland Brown (1837-1921) in the second edition (1859) of Beauties of Lyme Regis

Abstract

The publication of the now rare second edition of the guidebook The Beauties of Lyme Regis... by Lyme native Henry Rowland Brown (1837-1921) is dated to 1859. The known link of Brown’s family to Anning’s increases the significance of his book as a source for her, particularly the second edition which has a more extensive account of her than the first; relevant extracts are reproduced. His book has become a major source for writers on Anning, but only in corrupted form because of incompetent piracy by a later writer in a general magazine.