5 minute read
Wordsmith Revisited
BY JON G. BRADLEY & SAM ALLISON
George Alfred Henty died in November 1902 just several weeks shy of his seventieth birthday. Considered by many to be the ‘grandfather’ of the genre known as the youth historical novel, Henty’s popularity and influence have waned and waxed over the ensuing decades. How can the evident contemporary interest in his many novels be balanced against our own views and values?
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Henty brought his readers to geographic locations at a specific historical juncture. Sometimes exotic and even mundane, there was always adventure, intrigue and tension. Often adding to the historical realities, the protagonists had to right wrongs, solve mysteries, and extradite themselves from perilous situations. His were historical voyages of discovery aimed directly at that emerging new clientele in Victorian society – the young male reader. Henty brought his readers to Roman Britain, Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow, Peruvian explorations, fourteenth-century Venice, Indian mutinies, gold mining in California, the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, Brahmin treasure, War of the Roses, revolution in Haiti, liberation of Italy, as well as ancient Egypt. Reading Henty then was, in many ways, exploring the sweep of history.
Whatever the ever-changing lens through which Henty may be examined, there is no question that, in his time, he was a master of the historical novel with a readership that spanned the world. Not just the English-speaking world, as many of his novels were translated into several other languages.
It might be illustrative to mention only a few diverse individuals so as to acquire a sense of his widely felt influence. British historian and journalist A. J. P. Taylor noted that “[Henty’s books] were my favourites.”1 Rabelaisian novelist Henry Miller noted that Henty was “…my favorite author…I must have read every blessed one before I was fourteen.”2 Novelist Graham Greene stated of Henty’s novels: “I particularly liked the dull historical parts.”3 Author George MacDonald Fraser, in his 2008 Flashman on the March, pays tribute to Henty by portraying him as the intrepid war correspondent that he had been.
Commencing in 1867 with a single volume while in his mid-30s, Henty wrote a novel a year until the early 1880s when he really hit his stride as a novelist. Sometimes releasing three or more tomes per year, all in hardback with colourful covers, Henty continued this prodigious output right up until his death. Additionally, he wrote non-fiction (The March to Magdala), contributed short stories to The Boy’s Own Paper, and edited for a time the weekly Union Jack, with its ‘Boy’s Own’ type adventure stories.
Until age and infirmities hindered such travel, Henty was always at the ready anticipating a call to head off to some far-flung adventure. As such, he was a member of an elite group of war correspondents who fed an ever-growing Victorian readership with tales of tingling contemporary adventure tinged with pro-British overtones. Henty travelled widely; including, Abyssinia, Ghana, Italy, Turkey and Spain to name a few. Trekking to these locations, especially in time of conflict, was not for the faint of heart but he did prepare.
Henty was constantly prepared, and his travelling kit comprised all of the necessities for reporting from afar. Such elements included two revolvers and ammunition, at least one case of claret and another of brandy, favourite pipe and assorted tobacco augmented with the correct boots and clothing depending on location.4 Indeed, Henty travelled well, and one can just imagine the commotion when arriving in a strange place with this collection of personal necessities.
W. G. Blackie, his main British publisher, stated that even in the early 1950s, a half-century after his death, they were printing 150,000 copies of various Henty titles per year. Further, the company indicated that their own records show that over three-and-a-half million Henty volumes had been printed by Blackie alone.5 Taking into account foreign printings (particularly in Australia and the United States where Henty had a strong following), especially after copyright expired, world-wide reasonable estimates place printed Henty novels around the twenty-five million mark!
In a novel published posthumously, With the Allies to Pekin, Henty describes in detail an act of bravery that actually occurred in 1900. A Victoria Cross was awarded to young midshipman Basil Guy and this action was embedded in the novel. In the short span of time between the action actually occurring, the novel being written, Henty’s passing, the mother of the young man had written to the author in 1900 thanking him for penning such heroic novels that so positively influenced her son. No doubt heavily humbled by such accolades, Henty penned a long reply.
In his letter to Mrs. Guy, he attributes his popularity to the fact that he writes his books as he would have told them. He does not actually write but “talks to his typewriter” (obviously via a typist) just as he would to his children. He stated that he considers it to be a fair day’s work if he can generate 6,500 words. He ended his letter with the telling comment: “Besides I am solely at being a boys’ book writer.” 6
As this twenty-first century winds its way, Henty’s novels and impact have not faded. His books are being reprinted and the second-hand marketplace is awash in editions of Henty’s volumes. More modern critics often view his novels as unrealistic renditions of complex situations narrated through stilted characters. Others have heavily faulted Henty for a plebian set-piece literary style that eschewed women and glorified, too often, imperialism. Whatever the character and cultural shortcomings embodied in his own times, Henty knew how to spin an engaging yarn. 7
It is for new authors to bring fresh perspectives to historical incidents and to introduce new characters – righting the balance of genders and enhancing the depth that is adolescent historical youth fiction.
References:
1, Taylor, A. J. P. (1983). A. J. P. Taylor: A Personal Journey. New York, NY: Atheneum, p. 25. 2. Miller, Henry. (1969). The Books in My Life. New York, NY: New Directions, p. 317. 3. Schlesinger, Jr, Arthur M. (2000). A Life in the 20th Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917 – 1950. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin, p. 68. 4. King, Ann J. (2015). G. A. Henty 1832 – 1902: Some Biographical Essays. Cambridge, UK: The Henty Society, p. 187. 5. G. A. Henty. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._A._Henty) accessed 2022-03-25. 6. King, Ann J. G. A. Henty 1832 – 1902, p. 602. 7. Dulin, Julia. (1998). “Victorian children’s books gain latter-day following”. The Washington Times, May 6.
