She was the author of The Mummy! (18), a semi-comic response to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in which a hideous Egyptian mummy, Cheops, is revived in the 22nd century. Now seen as a pioneering example of science fiction, it includes descriptions of steam ploughs and mechanical milking machines that attracted the attention of agricultural writer John Claudius Loudon. After they met and later married, she abandoned fiction for gardening writing.
After an elaborate title page and a verse dedication "To The Misses Perry", the album contains autographs, diary entries and poetry, some composed for the Loudons' wedding. Shown here are a hand-pressed flower "gathered by Mrs Loudon on the plains of Waterloo 1850" and a sketch of a young lady - possibly the author - by Isabelle Martin, the daughter of the visionary artist John Martin.
Send suggestions for this series on the treasures, oddities and curiosities owned by universities across the world to: matthew.reisz @tsleducation.com.
Have your say