Tauchnitz and Ouida: An Anglo-German Friendship in Difficult Times

Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramée, 1839–1908), a prolific writer of Victorian popular fiction and a self-supporting woman, was not just one of Tauchnitz’s most important authors, but also a lifelong friend. Her successful work repeatedly fell prey to piracy and the dishonest publishing practices of businessmen ready to exploit a female author for commercial gain. The latter’s mass-market strategies lastingly undermined her ambitions as a serious artist as well as her finances and were fundamentally at odds with her libertarian ideals. Tauchnitz offered not only fair compensation and personable working relationships, but his respect for the quality of her work affirmed her self-image as an artist and engendered a loyal friendship that withstood poaching attempts and financial hardships, and weathered Ouida’s vocally anti-imperial politics amid increasing international tension towards the turn of the century. This chapter examines Ouida’s and Tauchnitz’s unusual working friendship against the evolving backdrop of European politics and nineteenth-century publishing as both an artistic and commercial endeavour.