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H. Rider Haggard

Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (/ˈhæɡərd/; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre.[1] He was also involved in land reform throughout the British Empire.[2] His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature and including the eighteen Allan Quatermain stories, continue to be popular and influential.


H. Rider Haggard

Haggard, c. 1905
BornHenry Rider Haggard
(1856-06-22)22 June 1856
Bradenham, Norfolk, England
Died14 May 1925(1925-05-14) (aged 68)
Marylebone, London, England
Resting placeSt. Mary's Church, Ditchingham, Norfolk, England
OccupationNovelist, scholar
Period19th and 20th century
GenreAdventure, fantasy, fables,
romance, sci-fi, historical
SubjectAfrica
Notable worksKing Solomon's Mines,
Allan Quatermain series,
She: A History of Adventure
Signature
Website
www.riderhaggardsociety.org.uk

Life and career edit

Family edit

Henry Rider Haggard, generally known as H. Rider Haggard or Rider Haggard, was born at Bradenham, Norfolk, the eighth of ten children, to William Meybohm Rider Haggard, a barrister, and Ella Doveton, an author and poet.[3] His father was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1817 to British parents.[4]

A member of the Haggard family, he was the great-nephew of the ecclesiastical lawyer John Haggard and an uncle of the naval officer Admiral Sir Vernon Haggard and the diplomat Sir Godfrey Haggard.[5]

Education edit

Haggard was initially sent to Garsington Rectory in Oxfordshire to study under Reverend H. J. Graham, but, unlike his elder brothers, who graduated from various private schools, he attended Ipswich Grammar School.[6] This was because[7] his father, who perhaps regarded him as somebody who was not going to amount to much,[8] could no longer afford to maintain his expensive private education. After failing his army entrance exam, he was sent to a private crammer in London to prepare for the entrance exam for the British Foreign Office,[6] which he never sat. During his two years in London he came into contact with people interested in the study of psychic phenomena.[9]

 
Portrait of H. Rider Haggard c. 1902

South Africa, 1875–1882 edit

In 1875, Haggard's father sent him to what is now South Africa to take up an unpaid position as assistant to the secretary to Sir Henry Bulwer, Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Natal.[10] In 1876, he was transferred to the staff of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, Special Commissioner for the Transvaal. It was in this role that Haggard was present in Pretoria in April 1877 for the official announcement of the British annexation of the Boer Republic of the Transvaal. Indeed, Haggard raised the Union flag and read out much of the proclamation following the loss of voice of the official originally entrusted with the duty.[11]

At about that time, Haggard fell in love with Mary Elizabeth "Lilly" Jackson, whom he intended to marry once he obtained paid employment in Africa. In 1878, he became Registrar of the High Court in the Transvaal, and wrote to his father informing him that he intended to return to England and marry her. His father forbade it until Haggard had made a career for himself, and by 1879 Jackson had married Frank Archer, a well-to-do banker. When Haggard eventually returned to England, he married a friend of his sister, Marianna Louisa Margitson (1859–1943) in 1880, and the couple travelled to Africa together. They had a son named Jack (born 1881, died of measles at age 10) and three daughters, Angela (b.1883), Dorothy (b.1884) and Lilias (b.1892). Lilias Rider Haggard became an author, edited The Rabbit Skin Cap and I Walked By Night, and wrote a biography of her father entitled The Cloak That I Left (published in 1951).

In England, 1882–1925 edit

 
Blue plaque, 69 Gunterstone Road, London

Moving back to England in 1882, the couple settled in Ditchingham, Norfolk, Louisa Margitson's ancestral home. Later they lived in Kessingland and had connections with the church in Bungay, Suffolk. Haggard turned to the study of law and was called to the bar in 1884. His practice of law was desultory and much of his time was taken up by the writing of novels, which he saw as being more profitable. Haggard lived at 69 Gunterstone Road in Hammersmith, London, from mid-1885 to circa April 1888. It was at this Hammersmith address that he completed King Solomon's Mines (published September 1885).[12]

Haggard was heavily influenced by the larger-than-life adventurers whom he met in colonial Africa, most notably Frederick Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham. He created his Allan Quatermain adventures under their influence, during a time when great mineral wealth was being discovered in Africa, as well as the ruins of ancient lost civilisations of the continent such as Great Zimbabwe.[13][14]

Three of his books, The Wizard (1896), Black Heart and White Heart; a Zulu Idyll (1896), and Elissa; the Doom of Zimbabwe (1898), are dedicated to Burnham's daughter Nada, the first white child born in Bulawayo; she had been named after Haggard's 1892 book Nada the Lily.[15] Haggard belonged to the Athenaeum, Savile, and Authors' clubs.[16]

 
H. Rider Haggard in later life (undated picture)

Aid for Lilly Archer edit

Years later, when Haggard was a successful novelist, he was contacted by his former love, Lilly Archer, née Jackson. She had been deserted by her husband, who had embezzled funds entrusted to him and had fled bankrupt to Africa. Haggard installed her and her sons in a house and saw to the children's education. Lilly eventually followed her husband to Africa, where he infected her with syphilis before dying of it himself. Lilly returned to England in late 1907, where Haggard again supported her until her death on 22 April 1909. These details were not generally known until the publication of Haggard's 1981 biography by Sydney Higgins.[17]

Writing career edit

After returning to England in 1882, Haggard published a book on the political situation in South Africa, as well as a handful of unsuccessful novels, [18] before writing the book for which he is most famous, King Solomon's Mines. He accepted a 10 percent royalty rather than £100 for the copyright.[19]

A sequel soon followed entitled Allan Quatermain, followed by She and its sequel Ayesha, swashbuckling adventure novels set in the context of the Scramble for Africa (although the action of Ayesha happens in Tibet). The hugely popular King Solomon's Mines is sometimes considered the first of the Lost World genre.[20] She is generally considered to be one of the classics of imaginative literature,[21][22] and with 83 million copies sold by 1965, it is one of the best-selling books in history.[23] He is also remembered for Nada the Lily (a tale of adventure among the Zulus) and the epic Viking romance, Eric Brighteyes.

His novels portray many of the stereotypes associated with colonialism, yet they are unusual for the degree of sympathy with which the native populations are portrayed. Africans often play heroic roles in the novels, although the protagonists are typically European. Notable examples are the heroic Zulu warrior Umslopogaas, and Ignosi, the rightful king of Kukuanaland, in King Solomon's Mines. Having developed an intense mutual friendship with the three Englishmen who help him regain his throne, he accepts their advice and abolishes witch-hunts and arbitrary capital punishment.

Three of Haggard's novels were written in collaboration with his friend Andrew Lang, who shared his interest in the spiritual realm and paranormal phenomena.

Haggard also wrote about agricultural and social reform, in part inspired by his experiences in Africa, but also based on what he saw in Europe. At the end of his life, he was a staunch opponent of Bolshevism, a position that he shared with his friend Rudyard Kipling. The two had bonded upon Kipling's arrival at London in 1889, largely on the strength of their shared opinions, and remained lifelong friends.[24]

Public affairs edit

Haggard was involved in reforming agriculture and was a member of many commissions on land use and related affairs, work that involved several trips to the Colonies and Dominions.[25] It eventually led to the passage of the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act 1909.[26]

He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Conservative candidate for the Eastern division of Norfolk in the 1895 summer election, losing by 197 votes. [27] He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1912 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 New Year Honours.[28][29]

Death edit

Haggard died on 14 May 1925 in Marylebone, London, aged 68.[30][1] His ashes were buried at St Mary's Church, Ditchingham.[31] His papers are held at the Norfolk Record Office.[32][33] His relatives include the writer Stephen Haggard (great-nephew), the director Piers Haggard (great-great-nephew), and the actress Daisy Haggard (great-great-great-niece).[34]

Legacy edit

 
Vanity Fair, 1887

Influence edit

Psychoanalyst Carl Jung considered Ayesha, the female protagonist of She, to be a manifestation of the anima.[35] Her epithet "She Who Must Be Obeyed" is used by British author John Mortimer in his Rumpole of the Bailey series as the lead character's private name for his wife, Hilda, before whom he trembles at home (despite the fact that he is a barrister with some skill in court). Haggard's Lost World genre influenced popular American pulp writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Talbot Mundy, Philip José Farmer, and Abraham Merritt.[36] Allan Quatermain, the adventure hero of eighteen novels and short stories beginning with King Solomon's Mines (1885), was a template for the American character Indiana Jones.[37][38][39] Quatermain has gained recent popularity thanks to being a main character in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Graham Greene, in an essay about Haggard, stated, "Enchantment is just what this writer exercised; he fixed pictures in our minds that thirty years have been unable to wear away."[40] Haggard was praised in 1965 by Roger Lancelyn Green, one of the Oxford Inklings, as a writer of a consistently high level of "literary skill and sheer imaginative power" and a co-originator with Robert Louis Stevenson of the Age of the Story Tellers.[41]

On race edit

Rider Haggard's works have been criticised for their depictions of non-Europeans. In his non-fiction book Decolonising the Mind, Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o refers to Haggard, who he says was one of the canonical authors in primary and secondary school, as one of the "geniuses of racism."[42] Author and academic Micere Mugo wrote in 1973 that reading the description of "an old African woman in Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines had for a long time made her feel mortal terror whenever she encountered old African women."[42] Despite such claims, Haggard's works include many positive views on Africans. He includes them as heroes - for instance, all the main characters in Nada the Lily are black, and the book is narrated by an African character, while in "Black Heart and White Heart: A Zulu Idyll" the "black-hearted" character is a white man, while the "white-hearted" (i.e. virtuous) character is black. Haggard criticises the use of the word "nigger," and in non-fiction works like Cetywayo and His White Neighbours, he argues that natives should be allowed to retain their practices, including polygamy.[43]

 
James Powell and Sons' presentation drawing for the Rider-Haggard window at Ditchingham Church, Norfolk (1925)

Influence on children's literature in the 19th century edit

During the 19th century, Haggard was one of many individuals who contributed to children's literature. Morton N. Cohen described King Solomon's Mines as a story that has "universal interest, for grown-ups as well as youngsters".[44] Haggard himself wanted to write the book for boys, but it ultimately had an influence on children and adults around the world. Cohen explained, "King Solomon’s Mines was being read in the public schools [and] aloud in class-rooms".[44]

General influence and legacy edit

The first chapter of Haggard's book People of the Mist is credited with inspiring the motto of the Royal Air Force (formerly the Royal Flying Corps), Per ardua ad astra.[45]

In 1925, his daughter Lilias commissioned a memorial window for Ditchingham Church, in his honour, from James Powell and Sons.[46] The design features the Pyramids, his farm in Africa, and Bungay as seen from the Vineyard Hills near his home.[46]

The Rider Haggard Society was founded in 1985. It publishes the Haggard Journal three times a year.[47]

Works edit

Films based on Haggard's works edit

Haggard's writings have been turned into films many times including:

  • King Solomon's Mines
This novel has been adapted at least six times. The first version, King Solomon's Mines, directed by Robert Stevenson, premiered in 1937. The best known version premiered in 1950: King Solomon's Mines, directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton, was followed in 1959 by a sequel, Watusi. In 1979 a low-budget version directed by Alvin Rakoff, King Solomon's Treasure, combined both King Solomon's Mines and Allan Quatermain in one story. The 1985 film King Solomon's Mines was a tongue-in-cheek comedy, with a 1987 sequel in the same vein, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold. Around the same time an Australian animated TV film came out as King Solomon's Mines. In 2004 an American TV mini-series, King Solomon's Mines starred Patrick Swayze. In 2008 a direct-to-video adaptation, Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls, was released by Mark Atkins; it bore more resemblance to Indiana Jones than the novel.
The film Dawn was released in 1917, starring Hubert Carter and Annie Esmond.
This book was filmed in 1912,[48] featuring Marguerite Snow, Florence La Badie and James Cruze, in 1914 with Constance Crawley and Arthur Maude,[49] and in 1917 as Heart and Soul, starring Theda Bara in the title role.[50]
The 1917 American film Cleopatra was based on Haggard's novel and other sources.
The book was adapted into a 1921 Italian silent drama film called The Stronger Passion,[51] directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Marie Doro and Sandro Salvini.[52]
The novel was adapted into a 1922 South African film.[53]
The book was adapted into a 1921 British film, Stella.[54]
This novel was the basis of a script by Ladislaus Vajda, for film-director Michael Curtiz in his 1924 Austrian epic known as Die Sklavenkönigin (Queen of the Slaves).[55]

Honours edit

The locality of Rider, British Columbia, was named after him. Rider Haggard Lane in Kessingland, Suffolk, is located at his former home.

See also edit

References edit

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Rider Haggard Dies in London Hospital. Author of 'She,' 'King Solomon's Mines' and Many Other Novels Was Nearly 69. He Was Knighted in 1912. An Authority on Agriculture and Sociology. Served on Government Missions". The New York Times. 15 May 1925. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  2. ^ Watts, James (2021). "Land Reform, Henry Rider Haggard, and the Politics of Imperial Settlement, 1900–1920". The Historical Journal. 65 (2): 415–435. doi:10.1017/S0018246X21000613. ISSN 0018-246X.
  3. ^ . Violetbooks.com. 14 May 1925. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  4. ^ . ebooks.adelaide.edu.au. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  5. ^ Burke, B. A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, 14th ed. (1925). Haggard of Bradenham, pp. 804-806.
  6. ^ a b Haggard, H. Rider (1989). "Introduction and Chronology; by Dennis Butts. In". King Solomon's Mines. Oxford University Press. vii–xxviii.
  7. ^ Haggard, H. Rider (2002). "H. Rider Haggard". King Solomon's Mines. Modern Library Paperback Edition. v.
  8. ^ Haggard, H. Rider (2002). "H. Rider Haggard". King Solomon's Mines. Modern Library Paperback Edition. vi.
  9. ^ H.d.R. [Memoir of Haggard]. In: Haggard, H. Rider (1957) Ayesha. London: Collins
  10. ^ Haggard, H. Rider (2002). "H. Rider Haggard". King Solomon's Mines. Modern Library Paperback Edition. vi.
  11. ^ Pakenham, Thomas (1992) The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876–1912, Avon Books, New York. ISBN 0-380-71999-1.
  12. ^ Eagles, Dorothy, and Carnell, Hilary, eds. (1978) The Oxford Literary Guide to the British Isles, Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-869123-8 p. 188
  13. ^ Mandiringana, E.; Stapleton, T. J. (1998). "The Literary Legacy of Frederick Courteney Selous". History in Africa. 25. African Studies Association: 199–218. doi:10.2307/3172188. JSTOR 3172188. S2CID 161701151.
  14. ^ Pearson, Edmund Lester. . Humanities Web. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
  15. ^ Haggard 1926.
  16. ^ "HAGGARD, Henry Rider". Who's Who. Vol. 59. 1907. p. 756.
  17. ^ Higgins 1981.
  18. ^ Ellis 1978, p. 89.
  19. ^ Etherington 1984, p. 99.
  20. ^ According to Robert E. Morsberger in the "Afterword" of King Solomon's Mines, The Reader's Digest (1993).
  21. ^ "Supernatural Horror in Literature by H. P. Lovecraft".
  22. ^ H.P. Lovecraft has stated in his essay Supernatural Horror in Literature: The romantic, semi-Gothic, quasi-moral tradition here represented was carried far down the nineteenth century by such authors as Joseph Sheridan LeFanu, Wilkie Collins, the late Sir H. Rider Haggard (whose She is really remarkably good), Sir A. Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, and Robert Louis Stevenson
  23. ^ . TIME.com. 17 September 1965. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008.
  24. ^ Kipling, Rudyard (1937). Something of Myself. London: Macmillan & Co.
  25. ^ Cohen 1961, pp. 239–85.
  26. ^ Cohen 1961, p. 178.
  27. ^ Cohen 1961, pp. 157–58.
  28. ^ "No. 28588". The London Gazette. 8 March 1912. p. 1745.
  29. ^ "No. 31114". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 January 1919. p. 448.
  30. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  31. ^ Higgins 1981, p. 241.
  32. ^ Pocock 1993, p. 288.
  33. ^ "Rider Haggard Papers". Norfolk Record Office. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  34. ^ "Daisy Haggard: 'If I had Botox, my career would be over'". The Guardian. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  35. ^ Fike, Matthew A. (2015). "Encountering the Anima in Africa: H. Rider Haggard's She". Jungian Journal of Scholarly Studies. 10. doi:10.29173/jjs50s. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  36. ^ See Lee Server, Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers (2002), pg.131.
  37. ^ "The Republic Serials were most strongly influenced by Sir Henry Rider Haggard's 'white man explores savage Africa' stories, in particular King Solomon's Mines (1886)"
  38. ^ "Star Wars Origins – Other Science Fiction Influences".
  39. ^ "Based on a 1885 novel by Henry Rider Haggard 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine, the exploits of Allan Quatermain have long served as a template for the Indiana Jones character. In this particular film, King Solomon's Mines (1950), Quatermain finds himself unwillingly thrust into a worldwide search for the legendary mines of King Solomon. The look and feel of Indiana and his past adventures are quite apparent here, and his new quest follows some very similar through lines. Like Quatermain, Jones is reluctantly forced into helping the Russians find the Lost Temple of Akator and the Crystal Skulls mentioned in the film's title. Both Quatermain and Jones are confronted by angry villagers and a myriad of dangerous booby traps. Look to King Solomon's Mines for a good idea on the feel and tone Lucas and Spielberg are after with their latest Indiana Jones outing".
  40. ^ Greene, Graham (1969). Rider Haggard's Secret. New York: Viking Press. pp. 209–214. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  41. ^ from the introduction to the 1965 Everyman's Library edition of the one-volume The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope
  42. ^ a b Thiong'o, Ngugi wa (1 January 1994). Decolonising the mind: the politics of language in African literature. East African Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 9789966466846.
  43. ^ "R. D. Mullen- The Books of H. Rider Haggard: A Chronological Survery". www.depauw.edu. from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  44. ^ a b Cohen, Morton N., "The Tale of African Adventure." Rider Haggard: His Life and Works. New York: Walker and Company, 1961. 89–95. Print.
  45. ^ . RAF. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  46. ^ a b . Abbott and Holder Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  47. ^ Fergusson, James (2018) The Haggard Society. The Book Collector 67 no.1 (spring) 97-99.
  48. ^ "Jess". IMDb. 21 May 1912.
  49. ^ "Jess". IMDb. 18 February 1914.
  50. ^ "Heart and Soul". IMDb. 21 May 1917.
  51. ^ "The Stronger Passion". IMDb. 1 May 1921.
  52. ^ Journeys of Desire p.50
  53. ^ "Swallow". IMDb. 20 July 1922.
  54. ^ "Stella". IMDb. 1 January 2000.
  55. ^ "The Moon of Israel". IMDb. 24 October 1924.

Bibliography

  • Cohen, Morton Norton (1961). Rider Haggard His life and Works. New York: Walker and Company.
  • Cox, Noel (2013). Sir Henry Rider Haggard: A collection of commentaries on his novels. Aberystwyth: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 9781494397746.
  • Ellis, Peter (1978). H. Rider Haggard: A Voice from the Infinite. Routledge. ISBN 9780710211941.
  • Etherington, Norman (1984). Rider Haggard. Twayne Publishers. ISBN 9780805768695.
  • Haggard, H. Rider (1926). The Days of My Life. Longmans.
  • Higgins, D.S. (1981). Rider Haggard: The Great Storyteller. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-30827-7.
  • Katz, Wendy Roberta (2010). Rider Haggard and the Fiction of Empire: A Critical Study of British Imperial Fiction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521131131.
  • Klein, Darius M. Survivals and Origins in H. Rider Haggard's She: A History of Adventure--A bibliography online source of bibliography
  • Monsman, Gerald Cornelius (2006). H. Rider Haggard on the imperial frontier. ELT Press. ISBN 9780944318218.
  • Pocock, Tom (1993). Rider Haggard: And the Lost Empire. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 9780297813088.

External links edit

  • Works by H. Rider Haggard in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
  • Works by H. Rider Haggard at Project Gutenberg
  • Works by H. R. Haggard at Project Gutenberg Australia
  • Works by H. R. Haggard at One More Library
  • The Mahatma and the Hare : a Dream Story illustrated by William Thomas Horton (1911)
  • Umslopogaas, She, & Allan Quatermain Full Series (1927)
  • Works by or about H. Rider Haggard at Internet Archive
  • Works by H. Rider Haggard at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)  
  • H. Rider Haggard at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  • H. Rider Haggard's She, Escape, CBS radio, 1948
  • H. Rider Haggard Quotation Collection
  • The Books of H. Rider Haggard: A Chronological Survey
  • Rider Haggard Society
  • Holterhoff, Kate. "Visual Haggard: The Illustration Archive".
  • In and Out of Africa : The Adventures of H. Rider Haggard Lilly Library, Bloomington, IN
  • Camera Interviews – Sir Rider Haggard (1923), by Pathé
  • Finding aid to H. Rider Haggard papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

rider, haggard, henry, rider, haggard, june, 1856, 1925, english, writer, adventure, fiction, romances, exotic, locations, predominantly, africa, pioneer, lost, world, literary, genre, also, involved, land, reform, throughout, british, empire, stories, situate. Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE ˈ h ae ɡ er d 22 June 1856 14 May 1925 was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations predominantly Africa and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre 1 He was also involved in land reform throughout the British Empire 2 His stories situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature and including the eighteen Allan Quatermain stories continue to be popular and influential SirH Rider HaggardKBEHaggard c 1905BornHenry Rider Haggard 1856 06 22 22 June 1856Bradenham Norfolk EnglandDied14 May 1925 1925 05 14 aged 68 Marylebone London EnglandResting placeSt Mary s Church Ditchingham Norfolk EnglandOccupationNovelist scholarPeriod19th and 20th centuryGenreAdventure fantasy fables romance sci fi historicalSubjectAfricaNotable worksKing Solomon s Mines Allan Quatermain series She A History of AdventureSignatureWebsitewww wbr riderhaggardsociety wbr org wbr uk Contents 1 Life and career 1 1 Family 1 2 Education 1 3 South Africa 1875 1882 1 4 In England 1882 1925 1 5 Aid for Lilly Archer 1 6 Writing career 1 7 Public affairs 1 8 Death 2 Legacy 2 1 Influence 2 2 On race 2 3 Influence on children s literature in the 19th century 2 4 General influence and legacy 3 Works 4 Films based on Haggard s works 5 Honours 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksLife and career editFamily edit Henry Rider Haggard generally known as H Rider Haggard or Rider Haggard was born at Bradenham Norfolk the eighth of ten children to William Meybohm Rider Haggard a barrister and Ella Doveton an author and poet 3 His father was born in Saint Petersburg Russia in 1817 to British parents 4 A member of the Haggard family he was the great nephew of the ecclesiastical lawyer John Haggard and an uncle of the naval officer Admiral Sir Vernon Haggard and the diplomat Sir Godfrey Haggard 5 Education edit Haggard was initially sent to Garsington Rectory in Oxfordshire to study under Reverend H J Graham but unlike his elder brothers who graduated from various private schools he attended Ipswich Grammar School 6 This was because 7 his father who perhaps regarded him as somebody who was not going to amount to much 8 could no longer afford to maintain his expensive private education After failing his army entrance exam he was sent to a private crammer in London to prepare for the entrance exam for the British Foreign Office 6 which he never sat During his two years in London he came into contact with people interested in the study of psychic phenomena 9 nbsp Portrait of H Rider Haggard c 1902 South Africa 1875 1882 edit In 1875 Haggard s father sent him to what is now South Africa to take up an unpaid position as assistant to the secretary to Sir Henry Bulwer Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Natal 10 In 1876 he was transferred to the staff of Sir Theophilus Shepstone Special Commissioner for the Transvaal It was in this role that Haggard was present in Pretoria in April 1877 for the official announcement of the British annexation of the Boer Republic of the Transvaal Indeed Haggard raised the Union flag and read out much of the proclamation following the loss of voice of the official originally entrusted with the duty 11 At about that time Haggard fell in love with Mary Elizabeth Lilly Jackson whom he intended to marry once he obtained paid employment in Africa In 1878 he became Registrar of the High Court in the Transvaal and wrote to his father informing him that he intended to return to England and marry her His father forbade it until Haggard had made a career for himself and by 1879 Jackson had married Frank Archer a well to do banker When Haggard eventually returned to England he married a friend of his sister Marianna Louisa Margitson 1859 1943 in 1880 and the couple travelled to Africa together They had a son named Jack born 1881 died of measles at age 10 and three daughters Angela b 1883 Dorothy b 1884 and Lilias b 1892 Lilias Rider Haggard became an author edited The Rabbit Skin Cap and I Walked By Night and wrote a biography of her father entitled The Cloak That I Left published in 1951 In England 1882 1925 edit nbsp Blue plaque 69 Gunterstone Road London Moving back to England in 1882 the couple settled in Ditchingham Norfolk Louisa Margitson s ancestral home Later they lived in Kessingland and had connections with the church in Bungay Suffolk Haggard turned to the study of law and was called to the bar in 1884 His practice of law was desultory and much of his time was taken up by the writing of novels which he saw as being more profitable Haggard lived at 69 Gunterstone Road in Hammersmith London from mid 1885 to circa April 1888 It was at this Hammersmith address that he completed King Solomon s Mines published September 1885 12 Haggard was heavily influenced by the larger than life adventurers whom he met in colonial Africa most notably Frederick Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham He created his Allan Quatermain adventures under their influence during a time when great mineral wealth was being discovered in Africa as well as the ruins of ancient lost civilisations of the continent such as Great Zimbabwe 13 14 Three of his books The Wizard 1896 Black Heart and White Heart a Zulu Idyll 1896 and Elissa the Doom of Zimbabwe 1898 are dedicated to Burnham s daughter Nada the first white child born in Bulawayo she had been named after Haggard s 1892 book Nada the Lily 15 Haggard belonged to the Athenaeum Savile and Authors clubs 16 nbsp H Rider Haggard in later life undated picture Aid for Lilly Archer edit Years later when Haggard was a successful novelist he was contacted by his former love Lilly Archer nee Jackson She had been deserted by her husband who had embezzled funds entrusted to him and had fled bankrupt to Africa Haggard installed her and her sons in a house and saw to the children s education Lilly eventually followed her husband to Africa where he infected her with syphilis before dying of it himself Lilly returned to England in late 1907 where Haggard again supported her until her death on 22 April 1909 These details were not generally known until the publication of Haggard s 1981 biography by Sydney Higgins 17 Writing career edit After returning to England in 1882 Haggard published a book on the political situation in South Africa as well as a handful of unsuccessful novels 18 before writing the book for which he is most famous King Solomon s Mines He accepted a 10 percent royalty rather than 100 for the copyright 19 A sequel soon followed entitled Allan Quatermain followed by She and its sequel Ayesha swashbuckling adventure novels set in the context of the Scramble for Africa although the action of Ayesha happens in Tibet The hugely popular King Solomon s Mines is sometimes considered the first of the Lost World genre 20 She is generally considered to be one of the classics of imaginative literature 21 22 and with 83 million copies sold by 1965 it is one of the best selling books in history 23 He is also remembered for Nada the Lily a tale of adventure among the Zulus and the epic Viking romance Eric Brighteyes His novels portray many of the stereotypes associated with colonialism yet they are unusual for the degree of sympathy with which the native populations are portrayed Africans often play heroic roles in the novels although the protagonists are typically European Notable examples are the heroic Zulu warrior Umslopogaas and Ignosi the rightful king of Kukuanaland in King Solomon s Mines Having developed an intense mutual friendship with the three Englishmen who help him regain his throne he accepts their advice and abolishes witch hunts and arbitrary capital punishment Three of Haggard s novels were written in collaboration with his friend Andrew Lang who shared his interest in the spiritual realm and paranormal phenomena Haggard also wrote about agricultural and social reform in part inspired by his experiences in Africa but also based on what he saw in Europe At the end of his life he was a staunch opponent of Bolshevism a position that he shared with his friend Rudyard Kipling The two had bonded upon Kipling s arrival at London in 1889 largely on the strength of their shared opinions and remained lifelong friends 24 Public affairs edit Haggard was involved in reforming agriculture and was a member of many commissions on land use and related affairs work that involved several trips to the Colonies and Dominions 25 It eventually led to the passage of the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act 1909 26 He stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as a Conservative candidate for the Eastern division of Norfolk in the 1895 summer election losing by 197 votes 27 He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1912 and a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1919 New Year Honours 28 29 Death edit Haggard died on 14 May 1925 in Marylebone London aged 68 30 1 His ashes were buried at St Mary s Church Ditchingham 31 His papers are held at the Norfolk Record Office 32 33 His relatives include the writer Stephen Haggard great nephew the director Piers Haggard great great nephew and the actress Daisy Haggard great great great niece 34 Legacy edit nbsp Vanity Fair 1887 Influence edit Psychoanalyst Carl Jung considered Ayesha the female protagonist of She to be a manifestation of the anima 35 Her epithet She Who Must Be Obeyed is used by British author John Mortimer in his Rumpole of the Bailey series as the lead character s private name for his wife Hilda before whom he trembles at home despite the fact that he is a barrister with some skill in court Haggard s Lost World genre influenced popular American pulp writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs Robert E Howard Talbot Mundy Philip Jose Farmer and Abraham Merritt 36 Allan Quatermain the adventure hero of eighteen novels and short stories beginning with King Solomon s Mines 1885 was a template for the American character Indiana Jones 37 38 39 Quatermain has gained recent popularity thanks to being a main character in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Graham Greene in an essay about Haggard stated Enchantment is just what this writer exercised he fixed pictures in our minds that thirty years have been unable to wear away 40 Haggard was praised in 1965 by Roger Lancelyn Green one of the Oxford Inklings as a writer of a consistently high level of literary skill and sheer imaginative power and a co originator with Robert Louis Stevenson of the Age of the Story Tellers 41 On race edit Rider Haggard s works have been criticised for their depictions of non Europeans In his non fiction book Decolonising the Mind Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong o refers to Haggard who he says was one of the canonical authors in primary and secondary school as one of the geniuses of racism 42 Author and academic Micere Mugo wrote in 1973 that reading the description of an old African woman in Rider Haggard s King Solomon s Mines had for a long time made her feel mortal terror whenever she encountered old African women 42 Despite such claims Haggard s works include many positive views on Africans He includes them as heroes for instance all the main characters in Nada the Lily are black and the book is narrated by an African character while in Black Heart and White Heart A Zulu Idyll the black hearted character is a white man while the white hearted i e virtuous character is black Haggard criticises the use of the word nigger and in non fiction works like Cetywayo and His White Neighbours he argues that natives should be allowed to retain their practices including polygamy 43 nbsp James Powell and Sons presentation drawing for the Rider Haggard window at Ditchingham Church Norfolk 1925 Influence on children s literature in the 19th century edit During the 19th century Haggard was one of many individuals who contributed to children s literature Morton N Cohen described King Solomon s Mines as a story that has universal interest for grown ups as well as youngsters 44 Haggard himself wanted to write the book for boys but it ultimately had an influence on children and adults around the world Cohen explained King Solomon s Mines was being read in the public schools and aloud in class rooms 44 General influence and legacy edit The first chapter of Haggard s book People of the Mist is credited with inspiring the motto of the Royal Air Force formerly the Royal Flying Corps Per ardua ad astra 45 In 1925 his daughter Lilias commissioned a memorial window for Ditchingham Church in his honour from James Powell and Sons 46 The design features the Pyramids his farm in Africa and Bungay as seen from the Vineyard Hills near his home 46 The Rider Haggard Society was founded in 1985 It publishes the Haggard Journal three times a year 47 Works editMain article List of works by H Rider HaggardFilms based on Haggard s works editHaggard s writings have been turned into films many times including King Solomon s Mines This novel has been adapted at least six times The first version King Solomon s Mines directed by Robert Stevenson premiered in 1937 The best known version premiered in 1950 King Solomon s Mines directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton was followed in 1959 by a sequel Watusi In 1979 a low budget version directed by Alvin Rakoff King Solomon s Treasure combined both King Solomon s Mines and Allan Quatermain in one story The 1985 film King Solomon s Mines was a tongue in cheek comedy with a 1987 sequel in the same vein Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold Around the same time an Australian animated TV film came out as King Solomon s Mines In 2004 an American TV mini series King Solomon s Mines starred Patrick Swayze In 2008 a direct to video adaptation Allan Quatermain and the Temple of Skulls was released by Mark Atkins it bore more resemblance to Indiana Jones than the novel She has been adapted for film at least ten times and was one of the earliest movies to be made In 1899 as La Colonne de feu The Pillar of Fire by Georges Melies An American 1911 version starred Marguerite Snow A British produced version appeared in 1916 and in 1917 Valeska Suratt appeared in a production for Fox which is lost In 1925 a silent film of She starring Betty Blythe was produced with the active participation of Rider Haggard who wrote the intertitles This film combines elements from all the books in the series The 1935 version filmed a decade later featured Helen Gahagan Randolph Scott Helen Mack and Nigel Bruce The lost city of Kor is set in the Arctic rather than Africa and depicts the ancient civilisation in an Art Deco style The music is by Max Steiner The screenplay combines elements from all the books in the series including Wisdom s Daughter In 2006 Legend Films and Ray Harryhausen restored and colorized the film for DVD release as it was originally intended The 1965 film She was produced by Hammer Film Productions it starred Ursula Andress as Ayesha and John Richardson as her reincarnated love with Peter Cushing and Bernard Cribbins as other members of the expedition The 1984 adaptation of She took place in a post apocalyptic setting attempting to capitalize on the fame of Mad Max In 2001 another adaptation was released direct to video with Ian Duncan as Leo Vincey Ophelie Winter as Ayesha and Marie Baumer as Roxane Dawn The film Dawn was released in 1917 starring Hubert Carter and Annie Esmond Jess This book was filmed in 1912 48 featuring Marguerite Snow Florence La Badie and James Cruze in 1914 with Constance Crawley and Arthur Maude 49 and in 1917 as Heart and Soul starring Theda Bara in the title role 50 Cleopatra The 1917 American film Cleopatra was based on Haggard s novel and other sources Beatrice The book was adapted into a 1921 Italian silent drama film called The Stronger Passion 51 directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Marie Doro and Sandro Salvini 52 Swallow The novel was adapted into a 1922 South African film 53 Stella Fregelius The book was adapted into a 1921 British film Stella 54 Moon of Israel This novel was the basis of a script by Ladislaus Vajda for film director Michael Curtiz in his 1924 Austrian epic known as Die Sklavenkonigin Queen of the Slaves 55 Honours editThe locality of Rider British Columbia was named after him Rider Haggard Lane in Kessingland Suffolk is located at his former home See also edit nbsp Biography portal Jules Verne 1825 1905 like Boussenard his French contemporary also wrote of fantastic worlds though some of these are considered to be more science fiction in some of his works than others Journey to the Center of the Earth and The Mysterious Island are novels that are similar in structure to the novels of Boussenard and Haggard Louis Henri Boussenard 1847 1911 French author of adventure novels dubbed the French Rider Haggard during his lifetime Pierre Benoit 1886 1962 French author whose novel L Atlantide is similar to She Emilio Salgari 1862 1911 Italian author of adventure novels and founder of the adventure genre in Italy Alexandre Dumas pere 1802 1870 French author of historical novels of high adventure Anthony Hope 1863 1933 English author of adventure novels such as The Prisoner of Zenda P C Wren 1875 1941 British writer of adventure fiction He is remembered best for Beau Geste a much filmed book of 1924 involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa and its sequels Beau Sabreur and Beau Ideal Mythopoeia Theosophical fictionReferences editNotes a b Rider Haggard Dies in London Hospital Author of She King Solomon s Mines and Many Other Novels Was Nearly 69 He Was Knighted in 1912 An Authority on Agriculture and Sociology Served on Government Missions The New York Times 15 May 1925 Retrieved 18 November 2012 Watts James 2021 Land Reform Henry Rider Haggard and the Politics of Imperial Settlement 1900 1920 The Historical Journal 65 2 415 435 doi 10 1017 S0018246X21000613 ISSN 0018 246X Lost Races Forgotten Cities Violetbooks com 14 May 1925 Archived from the original on 15 June 2014 Retrieved 15 May 2014 The Days of My Life by H Rider Haggard CHAPTER 1 ebooks adelaide edu au Archived from the original on 23 April 2016 Retrieved 16 April 2016 Burke B A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland 14th ed 1925 Haggard of Bradenham pp 804 806 a b Haggard H Rider 1989 Introduction and Chronology by Dennis Butts In King Solomon s Mines Oxford University Press vii xxviii Haggard H Rider 2002 H Rider Haggard King Solomon s Mines Modern Library Paperback Edition v Haggard H Rider 2002 H Rider Haggard King Solomon s Mines Modern Library Paperback Edition vi H d R Memoir of Haggard In Haggard H Rider 1957 Ayesha London Collins Haggard H Rider 2002 H Rider Haggard King Solomon s Mines Modern Library Paperback Edition vi Pakenham Thomas 1992 The Scramble for Africa White Man s Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 1912 Avon Books New York ISBN 0 380 71999 1 Eagles Dorothy and Carnell Hilary eds 1978 The Oxford Literary Guide to the British Isles Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 869123 8 p 188 Mandiringana E Stapleton T J 1998 The Literary Legacy of Frederick Courteney Selous History in Africa 25 African Studies Association 199 218 doi 10 2307 3172188 JSTOR 3172188 S2CID 161701151 Pearson Edmund Lester Theodore Roosevelt Chapter XI The Lion Hunter Humanities Web Archived from the original on 24 March 2016 Retrieved 18 December 2006 Haggard 1926 HAGGARD Henry Rider Who s Who Vol 59 1907 p 756 Higgins 1981 Ellis 1978 p 89 Etherington 1984 p 99 According to Robert E Morsberger in the Afterword of King Solomon s Mines The Reader s Digest 1993 Supernatural Horror in Literature by H P Lovecraft H P Lovecraft has stated in his essay Supernatural Horror in Literature The romantic semi Gothic quasi moral tradition here represented was carried far down the nineteenth century by such authors as Joseph Sheridan LeFanu Wilkie Collins the late Sir H Rider Haggard whose She is really remarkably good Sir A Conan Doyle H G Wells and Robert Louis Stevenson Cinema Waiting for Leo TIME com 17 September 1965 Archived from the original on 12 March 2008 Kipling Rudyard 1937 Something of Myself London Macmillan amp Co Cohen 1961 pp 239 85 Cohen 1961 p 178 Cohen 1961 pp 157 58 No 28588 The London Gazette 8 March 1912 p 1745 No 31114 The London Gazette Supplement 8 January 1919 p 448 Index entry FreeBMD ONS Retrieved 3 January 2018 Higgins 1981 p 241 Pocock 1993 p 288 Rider Haggard Papers Norfolk Record Office Retrieved 20 March 2013 Daisy Haggard If I had Botox my career would be over The Guardian 8 December 2015 Retrieved 29 April 2021 Fike Matthew A 2015 Encountering the Anima in Africa H Rider Haggard s She Jungian Journal of Scholarly Studies 10 doi 10 29173 jjs50s Retrieved 29 April 2023 See Lee Server Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers 2002 pg 131 The Republic Serials were most strongly influenced by Sir Henry Rider Haggard s white man explores savage Africa stories in particular King Solomon s Mines 1886 Star Wars Origins Other Science Fiction Influences Based on a 1885 novel by Henry Rider Haggard Archived 5 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine the exploits of Allan Quatermain have long served as a template for the Indiana Jones character In this particular film King Solomon s Mines 1950 Quatermain finds himself unwillingly thrust into a worldwide search for the legendary mines of King Solomon The look and feel of Indiana and his past adventures are quite apparent here and his new quest follows some very similar through lines Like Quatermain Jones is reluctantly forced into helping the Russians find the Lost Temple of Akator and the Crystal Skulls mentioned in the film s title Both Quatermain and Jones are confronted by angry villagers and a myriad of dangerous booby traps Look to King Solomon s Mines for a good idea on the feel and tone Lucas and Spielberg are after with their latest Indiana Jones outing Greene Graham 1969 Rider Haggard s Secret New York Viking Press pp 209 214 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help from the introduction to the 1965 Everyman s Library edition of the one volume The Prisoner of Zenda and Rupert of Hentzau by Anthony Hope a b Thiong o Ngugi wa 1 January 1994 Decolonising the mind the politics of language in African literature East African Publishers p 18 ISBN 9789966466846 R D Mullen The Books of H Rider Haggard A Chronological Survery www depauw edu Archived from the original on 1 February 2024 Retrieved 11 May 2024 a b Cohen Morton N The Tale of African Adventure Rider Haggard His Life and Works New York Walker and Company 1961 89 95 Print The Royal Air Force MottoThe Royal Air Force Motto RAF 25 April 2012 Archived from the original on 1 December 2017 Retrieved 10 June 2012 a b The List Abbott and Holder Ltd Archived from the original on 5 December 2019 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Fergusson James 2018 The Haggard Society The Book Collector 67 no 1 spring 97 99 Jess IMDb 21 May 1912 Jess IMDb 18 February 1914 Heart and Soul IMDb 21 May 1917 The Stronger Passion IMDb 1 May 1921 Journeys of Desire p 50 Swallow IMDb 20 July 1922 Stella IMDb 1 January 2000 The Moon of Israel IMDb 24 October 1924 Bibliography Cohen Morton Norton 1961 Rider Haggard His life and Works New York Walker and Company Cox Noel 2013 Sir Henry Rider Haggard A collection of commentaries on his novels Aberystwyth CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN 9781494397746 Ellis Peter 1978 H Rider Haggard A Voice from the Infinite Routledge ISBN 9780710211941 Etherington Norman 1984 Rider Haggard Twayne Publishers ISBN 9780805768695 Haggard H Rider 1926 The Days of My Life Longmans Higgins D S 1981 Rider Haggard The Great Storyteller London Cassell ISBN 0 304 30827 7 Katz Wendy Roberta 2010 Rider Haggard and the Fiction of Empire A Critical Study of British Imperial Fiction Cambridge University Press ISBN 9780521131131 Klein Darius M Survivals and Origins in H Rider Haggard s She A History of Adventure A bibliography online source of bibliography Monsman Gerald Cornelius 2006 H Rider Haggard on the imperial frontier ELT Press ISBN 9780944318218 Pocock Tom 1993 Rider Haggard And the Lost Empire Weidenfeld and Nicolson ISBN 9780297813088 External links editH Rider Haggard at Wikipedia s sister projects nbsp Media from Commons nbsp Quotations from Wikiquote nbsp Texts from Wikisource nbsp Data from Wikidata Works by H Rider Haggard in eBook form at Standard Ebooks Works by H Rider Haggard at Project Gutenberg Works by H R Haggard at Project Gutenberg Australia Works by H R Haggard at One More Library The Mahatma and the Hare a Dream Story illustrated by William Thomas Horton 1911 Umslopogaas She amp Allan Quatermain Full Series 1927 Works by or about H Rider Haggard at Internet Archive Works by H Rider Haggard at LibriVox public domain audiobooks nbsp H Rider Haggard at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database H Rider Haggard s She Escape CBS radio 1948 H Rider Haggard Quotation Collection The Books of H Rider Haggard A Chronological Survey Rider Haggard Society Holterhoff Kate Visual Haggard The Illustration Archive In and Out of Africa The Adventures of H Rider Haggard Lilly Library Bloomington IN Camera Interviews Sir Rider Haggard 1923 by Pathe Finding aid to H Rider Haggard papers at Columbia University Rare Book amp Manuscript Library Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title H Rider Haggard amp oldid 1224601574, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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