Bernard Capes Explained

Bernard Edward Joseph Capes (30 August 1854 – 2 November 1918) was an English author.

Biography

Capes was born in London, one of eleven children: his elder sister, Harriet Capes, was a noted translator and author of more than a dozen children's books.[1] His uncle, John Moore Capes, was President of the Oxford Union while attending Balliol College, Oxford[2] [3] and published a semi-autobiographical novel.[4] His grandfather, John Capes, had converted to Roman Catholicism, so Capes was brought up a Catholic, and educated at the Catholic college Beaumont College. However, he rapidly 'gave this up'.[5]

Capes was a prolific Victorian author, publishing more than forty volumes – romances, mysteries, poetry, history – together with many articles for the magazines of the day. His early writing career was as a journalist, later becoming editor of the monthly magazine The Theatre, the most highly regarded British dramatic periodical of its time.[6] Other magazines for which Capes wrote included Blackwood's, Butterfly, Cassell's, Cornhill Magazine, Hutton's Magazine, Illustrated London News, Lippincott's, Macmillan's Magazine, Literature, New Witness, Pall Mall Magazine, Pearson's Magazine, The Idler, The New Weekly, and The Queen.

Capes wrote numerous ghost stories, which were later rediscovered by anthologist Hugh Lamb in the 1970s.[7] His 1899 story "The Black Reaper" features a supernatural personification of Death.[8] Capes also wrote historical novels. Love Like A Gipsy (1901) is set during the American Revolution.[9] Capes' Bembo: A Tale of Italy is a novel which takes place during the reign of Galeazzo Sforza, the fifteenth-century Duke of Milan.[10]

He finally committed to writing novels full-time, taking around four months for each novel.[5] On several occasions he had two or three novels published in the same year – and even four in 1910. His first success came in 1897, when he entered a $30,000 competition for new authors sponsored by the Chicago Record. He was awarded second prize for The Mill of Silence, published by Rand, McNally that year. The following year the Chicago Record ran the competition again, and this time Capes won it with The Lake of Wine, published by Heinemann.

He died in the 1918 'flu epidemic.[11] A memorial plaque commemorating his life is in Winchester Cathedral (where he worked in the years leading up to his death), affixed to the wall by the door which leads to the crypt.

Capes' son Renalt Capes (1905-1983), and grandsons, also (Dr) Renalt Capes (1956-), Ian Bernard and Graham Burns, are also published authors.

Works

(Information supplied by Capes's grandson Ian Bernard Graham Burns)

Uncollected Stories

The following stories are not included in the six short story collections:-

References

Notes and References

  1. Lamb, Hugh. "Introduction", The Black Reaper, 1998
  2. "Capes, Rev. John Moore", Alumni Oxonienses, p. 217
  3. Oxford Union 1823-1923, p. 313
  4. To Rome and Back, 1873
  5. Renalt Capes, son
  6. Wong . Helene Harlin . 1955 . The Late Victorian Theatre: as Reflected in 'The Theatre', 1878–1897 . Louisiana State University . 10804838 . iv and 37. 15 August 2021.
  7. [Michael Cox (novelist)|Cox, Michael]
  8. Wendell, Leilah Encounters With Death: A Compendium of Anthropomorphic Personifications of Death from Historical to Present Day Phenomenon Westgate, 1996., (p. 53).
  9. Nield, Jonathan. A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales. London, E. Mathews & Marrot, 1929 (p.73)
  10. Boileau, Horace Tippin. Italy in the Post-Victorian Novel. University of Philadelphia; Philadelphia, 1931. (p.42)
  11. "Capes was struck down by the influenza epidemic which swept Europe at the end of the First World War." Lamb, Hugh. "Introduction" The Black Reaper, 1998, pg. xvii"
  12. Review of The Pot of Basil by Bernard Capes. The Athenaeum. 130. 4476. 9 August 1913.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bernard Capes".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.