Mary Botham Howitt (March 12, 1799 – January 30, 1888) was an English poet, and became interested in Scandinavian literature during the 1840s and, having learned Swedish and Danish, she translated many of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales for the delight of English children.  She may have been influenced by the dark side of some of his stories when she wrote her most famous piece, "The Spider and the Fly."