Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/336

 274 NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 S.X.APRIL 8,1922. ' Ela the Outcast ' is " By the Author of Ernnestine de Lacy,' " and ' Ernnestine de Lacy ' is " By the Author of ' Ela the Outcast,' " and so we do not get any " forrader." I mentioned ' Ela the Out- cast ' because it happened to be the first of the Lloyd novels which came to hand and is not among those in MB. JAY'S list, it being, I think, fairly certain that its author is known to be Thomas Seckett Prest, whose output, in quantity at least, must run that of Dickens very closely. I have two editions of ' Ela the Outcast,' totally different in format and in illustra- tions. The earlier of these was issued about 1841, when Edward Lloyd was at 231, Shoreditch, as a printer and publisher, if the imprint may be taken verb, et lit. The later edition appeared complete in January, 1850, when Lloyd was established in Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, where, during the next 20 or 30 years, he accumulated a fortune to which the undoubted stepping-stone was formed by the many romances of " thrilling interest " which he produced in such numbers for over 10 years. That these romances enjoyed an enormous circulation there can be no manner of doubt, and a really fine copy of any one of them, is in- finitely more difficult to obtain than one of Dickens or Thackeray. Lloyd was only one of many who published such books. E. Harrison, also of Salisbury Court, was another, but somewhat later. I would very much like to know who was the author of ' Black Bess,' which he published in penny numbers ; it ran for 254 weeks ! It had two sequels almost as long. W. ROBERTS. 18, King's Avenue, Clapham Park, S.W.4. I am intensely interested in MB. FRANK JAY'S query on the above subject, and I sincerely hope the result will elucidate the mystery surrounding the authors' names of the " penny dreadful " type of literature published by E. Lloyd. Who was the person who wrote under the name of " Bos " ? He wrote a number of burlesque travesties upon some of the best-known works of Charles Dickens. The first was the ' Sketch Book,' by Bos, printed and published by E. Lloyd, 62, Broad Street, Bloomsbury, in 1836 ; and it was followed by ' Nicholas Nicklebury,' by Bos, in 1838. Then comes 'The Post- humous Notes of. the Pickwickian Club, or The Penny Pickwick,' in two vols., by Bos, from the same address, in 1838 and 1839. After this we have ' The Life and Adventures of Oliver Twiss, the Work- house Boy ' (by Bos Pseud.), printed and published by E. Lloyd for F. Graves, Printer, 30, Curtain Road, Shoreditch, Aug. 2, 1839 ; followed by ' Pickwick in America,' edited by Bos, printed and pub- lished by E. Lloyd, 82, Broad Street, Shoreditch (sic). Possibly this was a printer's error, but the copy in the British Museum bears that address. Then came ' Mr. Humfries Clock,' by Bos, printed and published by E. Lloyd, 44, Holy well Street, London, in 1840. All these works were published in penny weekly numbers, the front page of each being embellished with a quaintly drawn woodcut, and some of those illustrating ' Pickwick in America ' being attributed to G. Cruickshank. If this " Bos " can be traced and his proper name discovered I think we shall get upon the track of the rightful author of ' Fatherless Fanny,' for the title page of my copy reads " ' Fatherless Fanny, or The Mysterious Orphan,' by the author of ' The Hebrew Maiden, or The Lost Diamond,' ' Oliver Twiss,' etc., etc., pub- lished by E. Lloyd, 231, Shoreditch, 1841." I have always understood that ' Gentle- man Jack ' was written by a lady, viz., Mrs. Elizabeth Caroline Grey, who wrote ' The Ordeal by Touch,' ' The Dream of a Life,' and several other penny shockers published by E. Lloyd during the period in question. The title page to ' The Dream of a Life : a Romance,' reads, " By the Author of ' The Ordeal by Touch,' ' Gentle- man Jack,' etc., etc. " ; the sub-title 011 the first page reads, " ' The Dream of a Life : a Romance,' by the Author of ' Vill- roy, or The Horrors of Zendorf Castle.' ' But I have hitherto not been able to sub- stantiate the assertion. If this lady wrote ' Gentleman Jack ' she used quite a different style and language from what appears in her other works. Unfortunately her name does not appear in any biographical work or book reference, at least I have not been able to find any mention of her beyond a short list of works under her name in the British Museum Library, where neither ' Gentleman Jack ' nor ' The Horrors of Zendorf Castle ' are mentioned. ALBEBT HALL. ' Gentleman Jack,' by the author of
 * Cavendish,' W. Johnson Neale. My edition