Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 2.djvu/173

 12 s. ii. AUG. 26, 1916.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

167

THE NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES OF G. P. R. JAMES.

VARIOUS mistakes have been made both about this novelist and his writings. At one time both the ' Dictionary of National Biography ' and ' The Encyclopaedia Britan- nica ' stated that he was born in 1801, and died on May 9, 1860 : but I convinced the editors of both that the dates were wrong, and they have since been corrected. James was born on Aug. 9, 1799, and died on June 9, 1860, as recorded by the newspapers of the time. It was, I believe, The Gentleman's Magazine that firot made the mistake of placing the death on May 9 (which, by a singular coincidence, was really the date of his widow's death thirty-one years later), and it was copied into 'The Annual Register' and other works. In reality, however, he died exactly ten years before the death of Dickens on June 9, 1870. I have heard that the mistake about the birth arose from the fact that he was not baptized till 1801.

Of his works ' The Encyclopaedia Britan- nica ' says :

" The two cavaliers who, in one form or another, open most of his books, have passed into a pro- verb ; and Thackeray's good-natured but fatal parody of * Barbazure ' is likely to outlast ' Riche- lieu ' and ' Darnley ' by many a year."

Now, as a matter of fact, only two of the novels begin with two horsemen riding along side by side, viz., ' Heidelberg ' among the historical and 'The Gipsy' among the non- historical. ' Darnley ' and ' The Gentleman of the Old School ' each begin with a solitary horseman ; and ' Agincourt ' begins with two who, coming from opposite directions, meet, talk, and separate again. ' Philip Augustus ' and ' The Brigand ' each begin with a large party of horsemen. So much for the delusion about the two cavaliers. In ' Barbazure ' Thackeray implies that the hero marries a widow, which no hero of James ever does, though three marry a second time, viz., those in ' The Fate,' ' Vicissitudes of a Life,' and ' Leonora D'Orco.'

The ' Dictionary of National Biography ' >ays of him :

" He is said to have written upwards of a hun- 'Ired novels, many of which have been repeatedly reprinted, and the British Museum Catalogue -numerates sixty-seven."

L do not deny that he wrote over a hundred stories if every short one be counted ; but he certainly did not write a hundred novels in the usual sense of the term, nor even sixty- seven ; and, of course, the mere name of "a story in a catalogue does not show whether

it is a full-sized novel or only a short story, or if the latter whether it was afterwards (or before) included in a collection also named in the catalogue. The real number of his novels is only fifty-six, and one of them ' Adrian, or the Clouds of the Mind' was not written entirely by himself, but in conjunction with his friend Maunsell B. Field, though there is nothing in the book to show which parts were by James and which by his friend. I have already stated in 'N. & Q.' (12 S. i. 506) that I have a complete set of James's novels and short stories, uniformly bound ; and I will now first of all give the names of the fifty-six in the order in which I believe they appeared :

1. Richelieu, 1829.

2. Darnley, 1830.

3. De L'Orme, 1830.

4. Philip Augustus, 1831.

5. Henry Masterton, 1832.

6. Mary of Burgundy, 1833.

7. Delaware, or the Ruined Family, 1833. (Published anonymously ; but some years later republished as ' Thirty Years Since ; or, The Ruined Family,' with the author's name on the title-page.)

8. John Marston Hall (a sequel to Henry Masterton), 1834.

9. The Gipsy, 1835.

10. One in a Thousand, 1835.

11. My Aunt Pontypool, 1835. (Published anonymously, but afterwards republished by the author in America as ' Aims and Obstacles,' the name of Lady Pontypool being changed to Lady Malwark.)

12. Attila, 1837.

13.' The Robber, 1838.

14. The Huguenot, 1838.

15. Charles Tyrrell, 1839.

16. The Gentleman of the Old School, 1839.

17. Henry of Guise, 1839.

18. The King's Highway, 1840.

19. The Man at Arms, 1840.

20. Corse de Leon, or The Brigand, 1841. (The two titles were afterwards reversed.)

21. The Ancient Regime, 1841. (Afterwards republished as ' Castelneau ; or, The Ancient Regime,' and in America as ' The Ancient Regime ; or, Annette de St. Morin.')

22. The Jacquerie, 1841.

23. Morley Ernstein, 1842.

24. The Commissioner, 1842. (Published anony- mously.)

25. Forest Days, 1843.

26. The False Heir, 1843.

27. Arabella Stuart, 1843.

28. Agincourt, 1844.

29. Rose d'Albret, 1844.

30. The Smuggler, 1845.

31. Arrah Neil, 1845.

32. The Step-Mother, 1845.

33. Heidelberg, 1846.

34. Castle of Ehrenstein, 1847.

35. A Whim and its Consequences, 1847.

36. Russell, 1847.

37. The Convict, 1847.

38. Gowrie, 1847.

39. Margaret Graham, 1847.