Fitz-James O'Brien

The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Fitz-James O'Brien

Thirty-Seven Short Stories of the Strange and Unusual Including 'From Hand to Mouth', 'The Legend of Barlagh Cave', 'The Other Night', and Eight Poems Including 'The Ghost', 'Sir Brasil's

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Produktbeschreibung

Writer, soldier and innovator in the fiction of the weird and other worldly This well regarded author of weird and supernatural tales was born in Cork, Ireland in 1826. Originally Michael O'Brien it is known he had journalistic experience and had possibly served in the British Army. Probably to ensure distinction he changed his name to Fitz-James O'Brien and emigrated to the United States of America in 1852. There he contributed writings to a number of periodicals including 'The Lantern', 'The Home Journal', 'The New York Times', 'Harper's Magazine', 'Vanity Fair' and others. The 'Atlantic Monthly' published what is possibly most famous story, 'The Diamond Lens', a tale that was admired for its quality by H. P. Lovecraft. O'Brien's 'From Hand to Mouth', 1858, has been described as 'the most striking example of surrealistic fiction to pre-date 'Alice in Wonderland'. O'Brien also penned early, short science fiction tales of robot rebellion and invisibility. At the outbreak of the American Civil War he joined the federal cause enlisting initially in the 7th New York National Guard before being promoted to the staff of General F. W Lander. He was severely wounded in early 1862, during a skirmish with Confederate forces, and though he lingered for some time he eventually died of tetanus at Cumberland in Maryland. This very substantial collection of O'Brien's fiction contains thirty-seven short stories of the strange and unusual including 'From Hand to Mouth', 'The Legend of Barlagh Cave', 'The Other Night' and Eight Poems Including 'The Ghost', 'Sir Brasil's Falcon' and 'The Lost Steamship'. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: LEONAUR
• Seitenzahl: 544
• Erscheinungstermin: 5. September 2017
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 222mm x 145mm x 35mm
• Gewicht: 905g
• ISBN-13: 9781782826620
• ISBN-10: 1782826629
• Artikelnr.: 49088595

Autorenporträt

Fitz James O'Brien (also spelled Fitz-James, 1826 - 1862) was an Irish-American Civil War soldier, writer and poet often cited as an early writer of science fiction. His earliest writings in the United States were contributed to the Lantern, which was then edited by John Brougham. Subsequently, he wrote for the Home Journal, the New York Times and the American Whig Review. His first important literary connection was with Harper's Magazine and beginning in February 1853, with The Two Skulls, he contributed more than sixty articles in prose and verse to that periodical. He likewise wrote for the New York Saturday Press, Putnam's Magazine, Vanity Fair and the Atlantic Monthly. To the latter he sent "The Diamond Lens" (1858) and "The Wonder Smith" (1859). "The Diamond Lens" is probably his most famous short story and tells the story of a scientist who invents a powerful microscope and discovers a beautiful female in a microscopic world inside a drop of water. It was one of the favorite stories of H.P. Lovecraft. "The Wonder Smith" is an early predecessor of robot rebellion, where toys possessed by evil spirits are transformed into living automata who turn against their creators. His 1858 short story "From Hand to Mouth" has been referred to as "the single most striking example of surrealistic fiction to pre-date Alice in Wonderland" (Sam Moskowitz, 1971). "What Was It? A Mystery" (1859) is one of the earliest known examples of invisibility in fiction.