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Anne of Green Gables

novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery; first in a series

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ565911
Source-derived summary

Anne of Green Gables is a 1908 novel by the Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, the novel recounts the adventures of an 11-year-old orphan girl Anne Shirley sent by mistake to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who had originally intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in the fictional town of Avonlea in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The novel recounts how Anne makes her way through life with the Cuthberts, in school, and within the town.

Anne of Green Gables has been translated into at least 36 languages and has sold more than 50 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books worldwide to date in any language, and is taught to students around the world. It was the first of many novels; Montgomery wrote numerous sequels. In 2008, an authorized prequel, Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson was published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the series.

The book has been adapted as films, television film, and animated and live-action television series. Musicals and plays have also been created, with productions annually in Canada, Europe, and Japan.

Source

In writing the novel, Montgomery was inspired by notes she had made as a young girl about two siblings who were mistakenly sent an orphan girl instead of the boy they had requested, yet decided to keep her.

Editorial summary

“Anne of Green Gables” enters the record as novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery; first in a series. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Anne, Green and Gables can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1908, 2008—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1908-06-13. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Anne, Green and Gables.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Anne of Green Gables” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Anne, Green and Gables provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q565911. VIAF identifies the subject as 181345094. The Library of Congress control number is no2010143485. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1908 and 2008.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Anne of Green Gables”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Anne of Green Gables primary sources, Anne of Green Gables archive and Anne research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Anne of Green Gables”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Anne of Green Gables” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.