Anne C. Lynch Botta

Mrs. Anne Charlotte Lynch Botta, author, born in Bennington, Vt, in 1820, died in New York City, 1891. While still a girl she published a number of literary productions. She removed to Providence, R.I. and then to New York City, where she made her home until her death. In 1855 she was married to Vincenzo Botta, professor of Italian language and literature in the University of the City of New York. For years their home was a literary and artistic center and they entertained many of the famous authors, painters, and musicians of Eurpoe and America. In 1870 and 1871, when funds for the suffering women and children of Paris were collected in New York, Mrs. Botta raised $5,000 by the sale of an album of photographs, autographs, and sketches by famous artists. The Franco-Prussian war closing before the collection was complete, the money was used to found a prize in the French Academy for the best essay on "The Condition of Women" to be awarded every fifth year when the interest on the fund should reach $1,000. She excelled as a writer of sonnets. Her literary productions include a great number of stories, essays, poems, and criticisms. In 1848 she published her first volume of poems, and in 1884 she brought out a new edition, illustrated by eminent artists. In 1845 she published "Leaves from the Diary of a Recluse" in "the Gift." Her "Handbook of Universal Literature" (New York, 1860) ran through several editions and was adopted as a text book in many educational institutions.

American Women: fifteen hundred biographies, with over 1,400 photos: a comprehensive encyclopedia of the lives and achievements of American women during the nineteenth century (Rev. ed.) by Frances E. Willard and Mary A Livermore (New York/Chicago/Springfield, OH: Mast, Crowell & Kirkpatrick, 1897