James Malcolm Rymer (1814–1884) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
nineteenth-century writer of
penny dreadful
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the nineteenth century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to ...
s, and is the co-author with
Thomas Peckett Prest
Thomas Peckett (or Preskett) Prest (probable dates 1810–1859) was a British hack writer, journalist, and musician. He was a prolific producer of penny dreadfuls and was known as a skilled author in the horror genre. He is now remembered as the co ...
of both ''
Varney the Vampire
''Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood'' is a Victorian-era serialized gothic horror story variously attributed to James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. It first appeared in 1845–1847 as a series of weekly cheap pamphlets of the ...
'' (1847) and ''
The String of Pearls
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' (1847), in which the notorious villain
Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...
makes his literary debut.
History
Information about Rymer throughout his life is difficult to find, possibly due to his infamous shyness and desire to escape the public eye,
as well as his usage of many
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
s such as Merry or Errym.
He was of
Scottish descent, though born in
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell () is an area of central London, England.
Clerkenwell was an ancient parish from the mediaeval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington.
The well after which it was named was redisco ...
, London on 1 February 1814 to a working-class family.
He later in life became a
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
of which he was still noted to follow as his profession in 1841. He married Caroline Huttley in 1839 and they had their first child in 1840.
Rymer began his literary career in 1842 when he began editing the ''Queen's Magazine,'' of which it is speculated he wrote the majority of the published articles.
After only five months he was forced to declare the magazine a failure and was forced to seek out other work
which he eventually found under the employ of
Edward Lloyd Edward Lloyd may refer to:
Politicians
*Edward Lloyd (MP for Montgomery), Welsh lawyer and politician
* Edward Lloyd (16th-century MP) (died 1547) for Buckingham
*Edward Lloyd, 1st Baron Mostyn (1768–1854), British politician
*Edward Lloyd (Colon ...
. It was during this time that Rymer made a name for himself with the publication of ''Ada the Betrayed'' in 1843.
This would later be followed up with the popular serials ''Varney the Vampire'' from 1845 to 1847 and ''The String of Pearls'' from 1846 to 1847 both of which serialized in ''People's Periodical and Family Library.''
Edward Lloyd moved on from publishing penny dreadfuls and began publishing newspapers in 1850, that same year a new publication of ''A String of Pearls'' was released with extra content.
After this Rymer instead did work for ''Reynold's Miscellany'' and befriended the owner of the publication
George Reynolds.
During this time in 1855 he wrote ''The Unspeakable'', which he claimed to partly be a biography, because of this some have suggested Rymer suffered from a
stutter
Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...
in real life.
His wife Caroline is speculated to have died in 1853 and he remarried in 1859 to Sarah Rebecca Carpenter. His son youngest George also passed away 1865, both of these deaths led to a drop in his writing with him halting all his work in 1869.
He and Sarah would move to
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
in 1870 and take over the Sea House Hotel there.
In 1877 he made his last public appearance during a court case about if dogs were allowed on hotel property which he won, he health began to deterioate in 1883 forcing him and his wife to move back to London.
He died on 11 August 1884 and is buried in
Kensal Green cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...
,
West London
West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...
.
Authorship question
Unfortunately Lloyd's business practices did not allow authors to put their name on their published work, due to this there is disagreement over the authorship of many works published by his company. In particular the authors of ''Varney the Vampire'' and ''The String of Pearls'' are much debated. E.F. Bleiler has argued that Rymer is most likely the author of Varney due to the differences in how he wrote dialogue compared to Prest
as did Louis James, the latter citing a piece of the manuscript in Rymer's handwriting.
The String of Pearls is usually attributed to either Rymer or
Thomas Peckett Prest
Thomas Peckett (or Preskett) Prest (probable dates 1810–1859) was a British hack writer, journalist, and musician. He was a prolific producer of penny dreadfuls and was known as a skilled author in the horror genre. He is now remembered as the co ...
, however other contenders such as George Mcfarren or
Edward Lloyd Edward Lloyd may refer to:
Politicians
*Edward Lloyd (MP for Montgomery), Welsh lawyer and politician
* Edward Lloyd (16th-century MP) (died 1547) for Buckingham
*Edward Lloyd, 1st Baron Mostyn (1768–1854), British politician
*Edward Lloyd (Colon ...
have been suggested.
The first claim of Prest being the author came in 1894 followed by a 1901 response claiming that Rymer was the true author.
Although historically attributed to Prest recently arguments have been made that Rymer should be considered the true author of ''The String of Pearls''.
It is commonly noted that these works were cooperatively written and so they usually are both considered co-authors of the piece.
Legacy
Rymer is held to be one of the four important writers of vampires and helping popularise them alongside
Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...
,
Sheridan Le Fanu, and
John William Polidori
John William Polidori (7 September 1795 – 24 August 1821) was a British writer and physician. He is known for his associations with the Romantic movement and credited by some as the creator of the vampire genre of fantasy
Fantasy is a ...
.
In popular culture
According to legend it is said that Rymer and Lloyd both grew so embarrassed by his previous work that they paid people to go around and take them out of stores in order to prevent them being seen by the public. Dick Collins speculates that this story originates from a copyright dispute where Lloyd lost the rights to some of Rymer's works and had to ask for them to be sent back as he could no longer profit off their sales.
James Malcolm Rymer features as the narrator of ''
The Springheel Saga
''The Springheel Saga'' is a drama audio series about the Victorian bogeyman, Spring-heeled Jack, written by Jack Bowman and Robert Valentine, and produced by The Wireless Theatre Company. The first series, ''The Strange Case of Springheel'd Jac ...
, Series Two: The Legend of Springheel'd Jack'', by The
Wireless Theatre Company
The Wireless Theatre Company is an online audio theatre company specializing in creating modern audio drama. It was founded in July 2007 by Mariele Runacre Temple, daughter of actress Jenny Runacre.
Overview
The company produces radio drama, au ...
. Set in 1845, Rymer is played by John Holden-White.
Bibliography
*''Ada the Betrayed; or, The Murder at the Old Smithy'' (1845)
*''
The String of Pearls: A Romance'' (1846)
*''
Varney the Vampyre; or the Feast of Blood'' (1847)
*''The Widow Mortimer'' (1849)
*''Love and Mystery; or, Married and Single: A Romance'' (1849)
*''Mazeppa; or, The Wild Horse of the Ukraine: A Romance'' (1850)
*''The Unspeakable;'' or, ''The Life and Adventures of a Stammerer'' (1855)
*''The Dark Woman'' (1861)
*''Edith the Captive; or, The Robbers of Epping Forest'' (1861)
*''The Wronged Wife: or The Heart of Hate'' (1870)
*''The Black Monk; or, The Secret of the Grey Turret''
*''The First False Step; or The Path to Crime''
*''The Knightriders''
*''Rankley Grange''
*''The Marquis of Dalewood''
References
External links
James Malcolm Rymer*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rymer, James Malcolm
1814 births
1884 deaths
19th-century British male writers
19th-century British novelists
19th-century British short story writers
British civil engineers
British horror writers
British male novelists
British male short story writers
Ghost story writers
Pseudonymous writers
Pulp fiction writers
Sweeney Todd
Victorian novelists
Writers of Gothic fiction