Уолтер Бесант: Англиялық жазушы және тарихшының өмірі мен шығармалары

English novelist and historian (1836–1901)

Sir Walter Besant (14 August 1836 – 9 June 1901) was an English novelist and historian. William Henry Besant was his brother, and another brother, Frank, was the husband of Annie Besant.

The son of wine merchant William Besant (1800–1879), he was born at Portsmouth, Hampshire and attended school at St Paul's, Southsea, Stockwell Grammar, London and King's College London. In 1855, he was admitted as a pensioner to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1859 as 18th wrangler. After a year as Mathematical Master at Rossall School, Fleetwood, Lancashire, and a year at Leamington College, he spent six years as professor of mathematics at the Royal College, British Mauritius. A decline in health compelled him to resign, and he returned to England and settled in London in 1867. From 1868 to 1885, he held the position of Secretary to the Palestine Exploration Fund. In 1871, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. In 1874, Besant married Mary Garrett ( Foster Barham), daughter of Eustace Foster Barham, of Bridgwater, with whom he had four children. For some time he took care of his sister in law Annie Besant, a prominent women’s rights activist, socialist, and theosophist.

In 1868 he published Studies in French Poetry. Three years later he began his collaboration with writer James Rice. Among their joint productions are Ready money Mortiboy (1872), and The Golden Butterfly (1876), both, especially the latter, very successful. This association was ended by the death of Rice in 1882. Thereafter, Besant continued to write voluminously by himself, his main novels being All in a Garden Fair (which Rudyard Kipling credited in Something of Myself with inspiring him to leave India and make a career as a writer, and which George Gissing read with 'extreme delight', calling it 'one of the most charming and delicate of modern novels), Dorothy Forster (his own favorite), Children of Gibeon, and All Sorts and Conditions of Men. The two last belonged to a series in which he endeavored to arouse the public conscience to the hardship among the poorest classes of cities. In this crusade Besant had considerable success, the establishment of The People's Palace in the East of London being one result. His 1889 novel The Bell of St. Paul's was considered by his contemporary author George Gissing to be an 'absurd and empty book'. In addition to his fiction, Besant wrote largely on the history and topography of London. His plans for this topic were left unfinished: among his books on this subject is London in the 18th Century. Besant was a freemason, joining the Lodge of Harmony in Mauritius in 1862. He became Master of Marquis of Dalhousie Lodge, London in 1873, having joined in 1869. He was one of the founders of the first Masonic research lodge, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No 2076, of which he was the first treasurer from 1886. He was also one of the founders and first chair of the Society of Authors in 1884. He was knighted in the 1895 Birthday Honours. He was treasurer of the "Atlantic Union", an association which sought to improve social relations between Britons and Americans. He died in Frognal in Hampstead, London on 9 June 1901, aged 64.

The Alabaster Box. 1900. Alfred. 3rd ed. 1899. All in a Garden Fair. 3 vols. 1883. All Sorts and Conditions of Men. 3 vols. 1882. Armorel of Lyonesse. 3 vols. 1890. The Bell of St. Paul's. 3 vols. 1889. Beyond the Dreams of Avarice. 1895. Blind Love. By Wilkie Collins, completed and with preface by W. Besant. 3 vols. 1890. By Celia’s Arbour: A tale of Portsmouth town. With James Rice. Reprinted from The Graphic. 3 vols. 1878. The Captains' Room etc 3 vols. The Case of Mr. Lucraft and other tales. By the authors of Ready Money Mortiboy (with James Rice). 2 vols. 1876. The Changeling. 1898. The Chaplain of the Fleet. With James Rice 3 vols. 1881. Children of Gibeon. 2nd ed. 3 vols. 1886. The City of Refuge. 3 vols. 1896. Dorothy Forster. 3 vols. 1884. Doubts of Dives. [Speculative fiction in which a rich and poor man exchange bodies]. A Five Years' Tryst and other stories. 1902. For Britain's Soldiers. By W. L. Alden, Sir W. Besant etc., with preface by C. J. C. Hyne. 1900. For Faith and Freedom. 3 vols. 1889. The History of London, 1894. A Fountain Sealed. 1897. The Fourth Generation. 1900. The Golden Butterfly. With James Rice. 3 vols. 1876. Herr Paulus. 3 vols. 1888. The Holy Rose &c. 1890. In Deacon's Orders &c. 1895. The Inner House. 1888. [Dystopian fiction about a society that has discovered immortality]
The Ivory Gate. 3 vols. 1893. The Lady of Lynn. 1901. The Master Craftsman. 2 vols. 1896. The Monks of Thelema. With James Rice. 3 vols. 1878. My Little Girl. By the authors of Ready money Mortiboy. With James Rice. 3 vols. 1873. No Other Way. 1902. The Orange Girl. 1899. Ready Money Mortiboy. Repr. from Once a Week. With James Rice. 3 vols. 1872. Repr. of 1885 ed. Bath, 1974. The Rebel Queen. 3 vols. 1893. The Revolt of Man. 1882. [Speculative fiction: traditional roles of sexes are reversed]. St. Katherine's by the Tower. 3 vols. 1891. The Seamy Side. With James Rice. 3 vols. 2nd. ed. 1880. The Ten Years' Tenant and other stories. With James Rice. 3 vols. This Son of Vulcan. By the authors of Ready Money Mortiboy. With James Rice. 3 vols. 1876. To Call Her Mine &c. 1889. "Twas in Trafalgar's Bay" and other stories. With James Rice. 2nd ed. 1879. Uncle Jack &c. 1885. Verbena, Camellia, Stephanotis, &c. 1892. With Harp and Crown. By the authors of “Ready Money Mortiboy.” With James Rice. 3 vols. 1875. The World Went Very Well Then. 3 vols (vol. I, vol. II, vol. III). 1887.

Novels by W. B. and James Rice. Library ed. 10 vols. 1887–88. Comprising in sequence Ready Money Mortiboy, This Son of Vulcan, With Harp and Crown, The Golden Butterfly, By Celia’s Arbour, The Seamy Side, The Chaplain of the Fleet, The Case of Mr. Lucraft and Other Tales, ‘Twas in Trafalgar’s Bay and Other Stories, The Ten Years’ Tenant and Other Stories [My Little Girl, The Monks of Thelema apparently missing from this series].

The Charm and other drawing room plays. With W. Pollock. 1896