PIERCE EGAN, THE YOUNGER (1814-1880)

Pierce Egan the Younger, son of Pierce Egan the Elder, who was the author of "Tom and Jerry" and other sporting books, was born in London in 1814. It was his intention, originally, to be an artist, and some of his own and his father's books were illustrated by him. He eventually turned to literature, and most of his early books are of the grisly kind, full of murder and passion. Among his novels are "Quintin Matsys" (1839), "Robin Hood" (1842), "Paul Jones, the Privateer" (1842), "The Thirteenth or Fatal Number" (1849), and "The London Apprentice" (1852). After this period his novels were of a different type, and among them were "The Poor Girl" (1862), "Such is Life" (1863), "Fair Lilias" (1865), "The Light of Love" (1866), "Eve, or, The Angel of Innocence" (1867), "False and Frail" (1875), and others of the same kind. His last novel was "A Shadow of the Future" (1879). Many of these romances appeared in the London Journal, of which he was editor from 1857 until his death, and afterwards came out in book form. He wrote for the Illustrated London News in 1842, and was editor of the Home Circle from 1849 to 1851. He also contributed to Reynold''! Miscellany. He died July 6, 1880, at Burnt Ash, Lee, Kent, and was buried in Highgate Cemetery. His wife and several children survived him.

REFERENCES: Dict. Nat. Biog., VI, 1908; The London Journal, November 16, 1918. A portrait was given as a frontispiece to the "Author's Own Edition" of "Robin Hood."

Waverley Library (quarto). No. 115 (pp. 10 to 28)