Henry James O'Brien Bedford-Jones (April 29, 1887 – May 6, 1949) was a Canadian-American

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

writer who became a naturalized United States citizen in 1908.

Biography

Bedford-Jones was born in

Napanee Greater Napanee is a town in southeastern Ontario, Canada, approximately west of Kingston and the county seat of Lennox and Addington County. It is located on the eastern end of the Bay of Quinte. Greater Napanee municipality was created by a ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada in 1887. His family moved to the United States when he was a teenager and he eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen. After being encouraged to try writing by his friend, writer

William Wallace Cook William Wallace Cook (1867-1933) also known by the pen-name John Milton Edwards, was an American journalist and author of popular fiction. His works include westerns, adventure stories, dime novels The dime novel is a form of late 19th-cent ...

, Bedford-Jones began writing

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...

s and

pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

stories. Mike Ashley, "Bedford Jones, H(enry James O'Brien)", in ''St. James Guide To Fantasy Writers'', edited by

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of ''Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whic ...

, St. James Press, 1996, , p. 51-3. Bedford-Jones was an enormously prolific writer; the pulp editor

Harold Hersey Harold Brainerd Hersey (April 11, 1893March 1956) was an American pulp editor and publisher, publishing several volumes of poetry. His pulp industry observations were published in hardback as ''Pulpwood Editor'' (1937). Early life He was born o ...

once recalled meeting Bedford-Jones in Paris, where he was working on two novels simultaneously, each story on its own separate typewriter. Bedford-Jones cited

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

as his main influence, and wrote a sequel to Dumas' ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'', ''D'Artagnan'' (1928). He wrote nearly 200 novels, 400 novelettes, and 800 short stories, earning the nickname "King of the Pulps". His works appeared in a number of

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

. Bedford-Jones' main publisher was ''

Blue Book A blue book or bluebook is an almanac, buyer's guide or other compilation of statistics and information. The term dates back to the 15th century, when large blue velvet-covered books were used for record-keeping by the Parliament of England. The ...

'' magazine; he also appeared in ''

Adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

'', ''

All-Story Weekly ''Argosy'', later titled ''The Argosy'', ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' and ''The New Golden Argosy'', was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey until its sale to Popular Publications in 1942. It is the first ...

'', '' Argosy'', ''

Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

'', ''

Top-Notch Magazine Top Notch may refer to: * Top-Notch (artist), an artist produced by Swedish label Polar Music * TopNotch, a Dutch record label * '' Top-Notch Magazine'', an American pulp magazine of adventure fiction that existed between 1910 and 1937 * Top No ...

'', ''The Magic Carpet/

Oriental Stories ''Oriental Stories,'' later retitled ''The Magic Carpet Magazine'', was an American pulp magazine published by Popular Fiction Co., and edited by Farnsworth Wright. It was launched in 1930 under the title ''Oriental Stories'' as a companion to P ...

'', ''

Golden Fleece Historical Adventure ''Golden Fleece Historical Adventure'' was an American adventure pulp magazine which published nine issues between 1938 and 1939. ''Golden Fleece'' specialised in publishing historical fiction. It published two stories by Robert E. Howard, th ...

'', ''Ace-High Magazine'', ''People's Story Magazine'', ''Hutchinson's Adventure-Story Magazine'', '' Detective Fiction Weekly'', ''

Western Story Magazine ''Western Story Magazine'' was a pulp magazine published by Street & Smith, which ran from 1919 to 1949.Doug Ellis, John Locke, and John Gunnison, (editors),''The Adventure House Guide to the Pulps'', Adventure House, 2000. (pp. 311–12). It was ...

'', and ''

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, prin ...

''. Bedford-Jones wrote numerous works of historical fiction dealing with several different eras, including

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

, the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

era, seventeenth century France and Canada during the "

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

" era. Bedford-Jones produced several fantasy novels revolving around Lost Worlds, including '' The Temple of the Ten'' (1921, with W. C. Robertson). In addition to writing fiction, Bedford-Jones also worked as a journalist for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', and wrote poetry. Bedford-Jones was a friend of

Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of crime fiction, detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of ...

and

Vincent Starrett Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett (; October 26, 1886 – January 5, 1974), known as Vincent Starrett, was a Canadian-born American writer, newspaperman, and bibliophile. Biography Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett was born above his grandfathe ...

.Vincent Starrett, ''Born in a bookshop; chapters from the Chicago Renascence." Norman, University of Oklahoma Press,1965.

Works

partial list * ''Blood Royal'' (''People's'', 1914) * ''John Solomon, Supercargo'' (''Argosy'', 1914) John Solomon #2 * ''Solomon's Quest'' (''People's'', 1915) John Solomon #3 * ''Gentleman Solomon'' (''People's'', 1915) John Solomon #4 * ''The Seal of John Solomon'' (''Argosy'', 1915) John Solomon #5 * ''Solomon's Carpet'' (''Argosy'', 1915) John Solomon #6 * ''The Shawl of Solomon'' (''People's'', 1917) John Solomon #9 * ''John Solomon, Retired'' (''People's'', 1917) John Solomon #11 * ''Sword Flame'' (''All Story Weekly'', 1918) * ''The Ship of Shadows'' (''Blue Book'', February 1920) * ''Arizona Argonauts'' (''Short Stories'', 1920) * '' The Temple of the Ten'' (with W. C. Robertson, ''Adventure'' 1921, book form 1973) * ''John Solomon'' (''People's'', 1921) John Solomon #13 * ''John Solomon, Incognito'' (''People's'', 1921) John Solomon #14 * ''Down the Coast of Barbary'' (''Argosy'', 1921) * ''The Shadow'' (1922) * ''Pirates' Gold'' (''Adventures'' 1922) * ''Splendour of the Gods'' (1924) * ''The Star Woman'' (1924) * ''The King's Passport'' (1925) * ''D'Artagnan'' (''Adventure'', 1928) * ''The Wizard of Atlas'' (1928) * ''The Opium Ship'' (2005) originally in ''

The Thrill Book ''The Thrill Book'' was a U.S. pulp magazine published by Street & Smith in 1919. It was intended to carry "different" stories: this meant stories that were unusual or unclassifiable, which in practice often meant the stories were fantasy or sc ...

'' in 1919 * ''The House of Skulls and other Tales from the Pulps'' (2006) * ''Blood Royal'' (2008) * ''Pirates' Gold'' (2008) * ''The Golden Goshawk'' (2009) Captain Dan Marquad series * ''The Master of Dragons'' (2011) O'Neill and Burkett series * ''The Rajah from Hell'' (2012) * ''The Saga of Thady Shea'' (2013) * ''Wilderness Trail'' (2013) originally in ''Blue Book'' in 1915 * ''The Sphinx Emerald'' (2014) * ''The Devil's Bosun'' (2015) * ''Treasure Seekers'' (2015) * ''Gimlet-Eye Gunn'' (2016) * ''Our Far-Flung Battle Line'' (2017) * ''Warriors in Exile'' (2017) * ''They Lived by the Sword'' (2017) * ''The Beginning of Air Mail'' (2018) * ''Ships and Men'' (2019) * ''Young Kit Carson'' (2019) * ''The Second Mate'' (2020) Non-fiction * ''This Fiction Business'' (1922, revised 1929) * ''The Graduate Fictioneer'' (1932) * ''Money Brawl: How to Write for Money and This Fiction Business'' (with Jack Woodford; introduction by Richard A. Lupoff 2012)

Gallery

References

External links

* * * * *
Works by Henry Bedford-Jones
at

Project Gutenberg Australia Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free eboo ...

* A large collection of Bedford-Jones's manuscripts resides at th
Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford-Jones, Henry 1887 births 1949 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian short story writers American crime fiction writers American fantasy writers American historical novelists American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian fantasy writers Canadian historical novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian male poets Canadian male short story writers Canadian science fiction writers Maclean's writers and editors Pulp fiction writers Western (genre) writers Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages