Maria Graham, nee Dundas, later Lady Maria Callcott (1785-1842), was a British writer of travel books and children's books, and also an accomplished illustrator. In 1809 she married Thomas Graham, a Scottish naval officer, in India. In 1811, the young couple returned to England, where Maria published her first book, Journal of a Residence in India, followed soon afterwards by Letters on India. In 1821 she was invited to accompany her husband aboard HMS Doris and the destination was Chile. In 1822 her husband died and in 1823 she began her journey back to Britain. She made a stop in Brazil and when she reached London, she published Journal of a Residence in Chile (1824) and Journal of a Voyage to Brazil (1824) illustrated by herself. In 1827 she married Augustus Callcott and in 1828 she published A Short History of Spain. In 1835 she published her first and most famous book for children Little Arthur's History of England. She continued to write until the very end, and her last book was A Scripture Herbal (1842), an illustrated collection of tidbits and anecdotes.