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S. S. Van Dine (also styled S.S. Van Dine) is the
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 individu ...
used by American
art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
Willard Huntington Wright (October 15, 1888 – April 11, 1939) when he wrote detective novels. Wright was active in avant-garde cultural circles in pre- World War I New York, and under the pseudonym (which he originally used to conceal his identity) he created the fictional detective
Philo Vance Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films, and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish—even foppish� ...
, a sleuth and aesthete who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in films and on the radio.


Early life

Willard Huntington Wright was born to Archibald Davenport Wright and Annie Van Vranken Wright on October 15, 1888, in
Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen ...
. His younger brother, Stanton Macdonald-Wright, became a respected painter, one of the first American abstract artists, and co-founder (with Morgan Russell) of the school of modern art known as " Synchromism". Willard and Stanton were raised in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
, where their father owned a hotel. Willard, a largely self-taught writer, attended St. Vincent College,
Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it becam ...
, and
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
without graduating. In 1907, he married Katharine Belle Boynton of
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
; they had one child, Beverley. He abandoned Katherine and Beverley early in their marriage. Katharine was granted a divorce in October 1930. he married for a second time in October 1930. His second wife was Eleanor Rulapaugh, known professionally as Claire De Lisle, a portrait painter and socialite.


Writing career

At age 21, Wright began his professional writing career as literary editor of the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', where – describing himself as "'Esthetic expert and psychological shark" – he was known for his scathing book reviews and irreverent opinions. He was particularly caustic about
romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
and
detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...
. His friend and mentor H.L. Mencken was an early inspiration. Other important literary influences included
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
and
Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...
. Wright was an advocate of the naturalism of
Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...
, and Wright's own novel, ''The Man of Promise'' (1916), was written in a similar style. In 1909, Wright wrote a perceptive profile of
Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...
for the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''. Wright moved to New York City in 1911. He published
realist fiction Literary realism is a literary genre, part of the broader realism in arts, that attempts to represent subject-matter truthfully, avoiding speculative fiction and supernatural elements. It originated with the realist art movement that began with ...
as editor of the
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
literary magazine ''
The Smart Set ''The Smart Set'' was an American literary magazine, founded by Colonel William d'Alton Mann and published from March 1900 to June 1930. Its headquarters was in New York City. During its Jazz Age heyday under the editorship of H. L. Mencken and ...
,'' from 1912 to 1914, a job he attained with Mencken's help. He was fired from that position when the magazine's conservative owner felt that Wright was intentionally provoking their middle-class readership with his interest in unconventional and often sexually explicit fiction. In his two-year tenure, Wright published short stories by Gabriele D'Annunzio, Floyd Dell,
Ford Madox Ford Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals ''The English Review'' and '' The Transatlantic Review'' were instrumental in ...
,
D.H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
, and George Moore; a play by
Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language; though he did not sp ...
; and poems by
Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
and
William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
. In 1913, he visited Paris and Munich, seeing Impressionist and Synchromist works of art. He wrote an article about the art, ''Impressionism to Synchromism'', December 1913, published in ''New York'' magazine, which brought the abstract art to public attention in the US. Wright's many projects reflected his wide range of interests. His book ''What Nietzsche Taught'' appeared in 1915. An attempt to popularize the German philosopher with skeptical American audiences, it described and commented on all of
Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ca ...
's books and provided quotations from each work. Wright continued to write short stories in this period; in 2012, Brooks Hefner revealed heretofore unknown short stories that featured an intellectual criminal, written by Wright under a pseudonym several years before his adoption of the Van Dine pseudonym. Wright was, however, most respected in intellectual circles for his writing about art. In ''Modern Painting: Its Tendency and Meaning'' (secretly co-authored in 1915 with his brother Stanton), he surveyed the important art movements of the last hundred years from
Manet A wireless ad hoc network (WANET) or mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a decentralized type of wireless network. The network is ad hoc because it does not rely on a pre-existing infrastructure, such as routers in wired networks or access points ...
to
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
, praised the largely unknown work of Cézanne, and predicted a coming era in which an art of color abstraction would replace realism. Admired by
Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...
and
Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Amer ...
among others, Wright became under his brother's tutelage one of the most progressive (and belligerently opinionated) art critics of the time and helped to organize several shows, including the "Forum Exhibition of Modern American Painters", bringing the most advanced new painters to the attention of audiences on both coasts. He also published a work of aesthetic philosophy, ''The Creative Will'' (1916), that O'Keeffe and
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most ...
both regarded as a meaningful influence on their thinking about artistic identity. In 1917, Wright published '' Misinforming a Nation'', in which he mounted a blistering attack on alleged inaccuracies and British biases in the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...
''. A Germanophile, Wright did not support America's decision to join the Allied cause in World War I, and he was blackballed from journalism for more than two years after an overzealous secretary (erroneously) accused him of spying for Germany, an episode that became a much-publicized scandal in New York in November 1917. Though cleared, his favourable view of Prussian militarism cost him his friendships with Mencken and Dreiser. In 1929, at the height of his fame as 'Philo Vance', he was appointed Police Commissioner of Bradley Beach, New Jersey. After suffering a nervous breakdown and the beginning of a long-term dependence on drugs, Wright retreated to California, where he attempted to make a living as a newspaper columnist in San Francisco. Contrary to what is stated in some sources, Wright did write a biography of the poet
Richard Hovey Richard Hovey (May 4, 1864 – February 24, 1900) was an American poet. Graduating from Dartmouth College in 1885, he is known in part for penning the school Alma Mater, ''Men of Dartmouth''. Biography Hovey was born in Normal, Illinois, the s ...
and it was announced for publication in Spring 1914. In 1929, Wright stated that "It is true that at one time I was working on a book relating to Richard Hovey and his friends but Mrs Hovey died before the book went to press, and it has never been published"; that remains the case.


Detective fiction

Returning to New York in 1920, Wright took any freelance work that came his way but lived a restless, impoverished existence and, in his displays of temper and anxiety, alienated many of his old friends. By 1923, he was seriously ill, the result of a breakdown from overwork, he claimed, but in reality the consequence of his secret cocaine addiction, according to John Loughery's biography ''Alias S.S. Van Dine''. Confined to bed for a prolonged period of recovery, he began in frustration and boredom reading hundreds of volumes of crime and detection. As a direct result of this exhaustive study, he wrote a seminal essay, published in 1926, which explored the history, traditions and conventions of detective fiction as an art form. Wright also decided to try his own hand at detective fiction and approached
Maxwell Perkins William Maxwell Evarts "Max" Perkins (September 20, 1884 – June 17, 1947) was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, and Thomas Wolfe. Early life and ...
, the famous Scribner's editor whom he had known at Harvard, with an outline for a trilogy that would feature an affluent, snobbish amateur sleuth, a Jazz Age Manhattan setting, and lively topical references. In 1926, the first Philo Vance book, '' The Benson Murder Case,'' was published under the pseudonym "S.S. Van Dine". Within two years, following the publication of ''The Canary Murder Case'' and ''The Greene Murder Case,'' Wright was one of the best-selling authors in the United States. Frankly embarrassed by his turn from intellectual pursuits to
mass market The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds with ...
fiction, Wright never wanted to publish under his own name. He took his pseudonym from the abbreviation of "steamship" and from Van Dine, which he claimed was an old family name. According to Loughery, however, "there are no Van Dines evident in the family tree" (p. 176). He wrote twelve mysteries in total, though their author's identity was unmasked by 1928. The first few books about the distinctive Philo Vance (who shared with his creator a love of art and a disdain for the common touch) sold many copies, leading Wright to become wealthy for the first time in his life. His readership was diverse and worldwide. David Shavit's study of World War II
POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...
reading habits revealed that Vance was one of the favorite detectives among officer POWs. However, according to critic
Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons) (pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was bo ...
: Wright's later books declined in both quality and popularity. The reading public's tastes changed, and the "
hard-boiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...
" school of detective fiction became the dominant style in the 1930s. The new mood was captured by
Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's bes ...
in his brief verse:
Philo Vance Needs a kick in the pance.
Philo Vance and
Sam Spade Sam Spade is a fictional character and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel '' The Maltese Falcon''. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett. ''The Maltese Falcon'', first published as a serial in the pulp ...
occupy different aesthetic universes. Wright continued to make money, though, and by the end of the decade, he saw himself caught in a trap from which he could not escape: in the midst of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The Financial contagion, ...
, he could not return to literary journalism and art criticism which paid very little, now that he and his wife were accustomed to an extravagant way of life, and yet he no longer believed in the kind of novels he was producing each year in order to maintain that way of life.


Study of detective fiction

Wright's lengthy introduction and notes to the anthology ''The World's Great Detective Stories'' (1927) are important in the history of the critical study of detective fiction. Although dated by the passage of time, this essay is still a core around which many other such commentaries have been constructed. He also wrote an article, "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories", in 1928 for ''The American Magazine'' It has been frequently reprinted and compared to " Knox's (Ten) Commandments" by
Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a high reputation as a classicist, Knox wa ...
.


Short film series

Wright wrote scenarios for
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
film studio in the early 1930s. These were used as the basis for a series of 12 two-reel "murder mystery" films, each approximately 20 minutes long, which were released in 1931–1932. Of these, ''The Skull Murder Mystery'' shows Wright's vigorous plot construction. It features a non-stereotypical treatment of its Chinese characters, something quite unusual in its day.
Donald Meek Thomas Donald Meek (14 July 1878 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish-American actor. He first performed publicly at the age of eight and began appearing on Broadway in 1903. Meek is perhaps best known for his roles in the films '' You Can't T ...
(as Dr. Crabtree) and John Hamilton (as Inspector Carr) were featured players, with Joseph Henabery directing. Three titles (''The Wall Street Mystery'', ''The Studio Murder Mystery'', and the ''Trans-Atlantic Murder Mystery'') have been released on DVD as extras on ''Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 3'' (Warner). As far as it is known, none of Van Dine's screen treatments has been published in book form, and none of the manuscripts survive.
Short films A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
were a common part of theatre screenings at the time, and
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
made hundreds of them during the studio era. On 13 September 1932, a $500,000 plagiarism suit was filed against Van Dine and the Vitaphone Film Company by Arlo Channing Edington and Carmen Ballen Edington who charged that their novel, ''The Studio Murder Mystery'', which had been filmed by
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
in 1929, had been "'lifted' – title, plot and incident" and produced by the film company, credited to Van Dine. The outcome of the suit is unknown.


Late career and death

From a monetary perspective, Wright was fortunate in his experiences with Hollywood, and he was lionized on his visits to the movie capital. All but two of his novels were adapted as feature-length films, and the role of Philo Vance was played by stars such as
William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cre ...
(before his Nick Charles period),
Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...
, and
Edmund Lowe Edmund Dantes Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film. Biography Lowe was born in San Jose, California. His father was a local judge. His childhood home was a ...
.
Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she hel ...
(in ''
The Canary Murder Case ''For the film adaptation see The Canary Murder Case (film)'' ''The Canary Murder Case'' (1927) is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and, eventually, her boyfriend, solved by P ...
''),
Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...
(in '' The Greene Murder Case''), and
Rosalind Russell Catherine Rosalind Russell (June 4, 1907November 28, 1976) was an American actress, comedienne, screenwriter, and singer,Obituary ''Variety'', December 1, 1976, p. 79. known for her role as fast-talking newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson in the Ho ...
(in '' The Casino Murder Case'') appeared in the S.S. Van Dine movies. On April 11, 1939, at age 50, Wright died in New York of a heart condition exacerbated by excessive drinking, a year after the publication of an unpopular experimental novel incorporating one of the biggest stars in
radio comedy Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve variety show, sitcom elements, sketches, and various types of comedy found in other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be co ...
, '' The Gracie Allen Murder Case''. He left behind a complete novelette-length story intended for a
Sonja Henie Sonja Henie (8 April 1912 – 12 October 1969) was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic champion (1928, 1932, 1936) in women's singles, a ten-time World champion (1927–1936) and a six-time European champi ...
film vehicle, which was published posthumously as '' The Winter Murder Case''. Max Perkins generously referred to Wright as a "gallant, gentle man" at the time of his death who had been tormented by the pressures of a market-driven age. His portrait, painted by his brother in 1914, hangs in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.


Works


Journalism and reviews

*''Edgar Allan Poe: His Art, Accomplishments, Influence''. Los Angeles Times, 19 January 1909 *''The Uselessness of Art''. West Coast Magazine, September 1909 *''View of a Highbrow Anent the Fighting Game''. Los Angeles Times, 20 March 1910 *''Hotbed of Soulful Culture, Vortex of Erotic Erudition''. Los Angeles Times, 22 May 1910 *''The Gambler's Life in Gay Reno''. Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2010 *''Fresh Literature – Books Reviewed''. Los Angeles Times, 11 September 1910 *''New Librarian Liberal in Policies, Would Specialise''. Los Angeles Times, 25 September 1910 *''Fresh Literature – Books Reviewed''. Los Angeles Times, 25 September 1910 *''Two Days in Los Angeles with Greatest Novelist''. Los Angeles Times, 13 November 1910 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 20 November 1910 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 4 December 1910 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 18 December 1910, *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 25 December 1910 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 1 January 1911 *''David Graham Phillips''. Los Angeles Times, 28 January 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 19 March 1911 *''Advantage of Stupidity in Dramatic Censorship''. Los Angeles Times, 17 April 1911 *''David C McCann''. Los Angeles Times, 24 April 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 30 April 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 7 May 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 14 May 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 11 June 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 2 July 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 16 July 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 23 July 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 24 September 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 8 October 1911 *''Fresh Literature – Book Reviews''. Los Angeles Times, 29 October 1911 *’’Fresh Literature - Book Reviews’’. Los Angeles Times, 28 April 1912 *’’The New Books and the Book News’’. Los Angeles Times, 12 May 1912 *’’New Books and Book News of the Week’’. Los Angeles Times, 26 May 1912 *’’The New Books and the Book News’’. Los Angeles Times, 23 June 1912 *’’The New Books and the Book News’’. Los Angeles Times, 30 June 1912 *''The Mission Play''. Sunset, July 1912. Abridged and reprinted, Harper’s Weekly, July 1912 *’’The New Books and the Book News’’. Los Angeles Times, 14 July 1912 *''New Books and Book News''. Los Angeles Times, 7 March 1913 *''Los Angeles – The Chemically Pure''. The Smart Set, March 1913. Reprinted: The Smart Set Anthology (1934) *''New Books and Book News''. Los Angeles Times, 1 June 1913 *''New Books and Book News''. Los Angeles Times, 8 June 1913 *''New Books and Book News''. Los Angeles Times, 15 June 1913 *''London’s Notorious Supper Clubs''. The Smart Set, ate unknown Reprinted: Arizona Republican, 28 November 1913 *''He Hopes Our Nation Will Become Nietzschean''. New York Tribune, 26 March 1916 *'' itle Unknown'. North American Review, October 1917 *''Pacificism and Art''. Los Angeles Times, 19 November 1917 *''A Pedant on Painting''. Los Angeles Times, 7 April 1918 *''New San Francisco – The Prophylactic''. Los Angeles Times, 4 August 1918 *''Woe Is Me' in San Francisco''. Los Angeles Times, 26 January 1919 *''The Picture That Made Paris Gasp''. Hearst's International Magazine, August 1922 *'' itle Unknown'. Shadowland Magazine, August 1922 *''The Future of Painting: 1''. The Freeman Magazine, December 1922 *''A Strictly American Lexicon''. Austin American, 22 May 1928 *'' itle Unknown'. New York Evening Mail, May 1934
Sleuth-Writer Scouts Gordon Death Theories
" ''Las Vegas Age'', 7 Apr. 1931, p. 2.


Other non-fiction

*''The Mission Pageant at San Gabriel''. The Bookman, July 1912 *''Loaf Sugar: A Protest''. Minnesota Star Tribune, 28 September 1927 *''New York – Post Impressions''. Minnesota Star Tribune, 6 October 1927 *''Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories''. ''American Magazine'', September 1928, pp. 26–30. *''I Used to Be a Highbrow, But Look at Me Now''. ''American Magazine'', Sept. 1928. New York: Scribner, 1929. * "The Closed Arena." ''Scribner's Magazine'', Mar. 1930, pp. 237–43.


Mysteries

*Hughes, Rupert, Samuel Hopkins Adams, Anthony Abbot, Rita Weiman, S. S. Van Dine, and John Erskine. ''The President's Mystery Story''. New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1935. * as Albert Otis: "Chivalry." ''Pearson's Magazine'', Apr. 1916, pp. 343–51. * ———. "A Deal in Contraband." ''Pearson's Magazine'', July 1916, pp. 27–32. * ———. "An Eye for an Eye." ''Pearson's Magazine'', Aug. 1916, pp. 113–19. * ———. "Full o'Larceny." ''Pearson's Magazine'', Feb. 1916, pp. 118–26. * ———. "The King's Coup." ''Pearson's Magazine'', Mar. 1916, pp. 203–10. * ———. "The Moon of the East." ''Pearson's Magazine'', May 1916, pp. 453–59. * ———. "The Scandal of the Louvre." ''Pearson's Magazine'', June 1916, pp. 499–505. * ———. "The Wise Guy." ''Pearson's Magazine'', Jan. 1916, pp. 24–31. * as S. S. Van Dine: "Scarlet Nemesis." ''Cosmopolitan'', Jan. 1929, pp. 52+. * ———. "A Murder In A Witches' Caldron." ''Cosmopolitan'', Feb. 1929, pp. 58+. * ———. "The Man In The Blue Overcoat." ''Cosmopolitan,'' May 1929, pp. 32+. * ———. "The Chorinsky Murder." ''Cosmopolitan'', June 1929, pp. 56+. * ———. "The Almost Perfect Crime." ''Cosmopolitan'', July 1929, pp. 66–67 * ———. "The Inconvenient Husband." ''Cosmopolitan'', Aug. 1929, pp. 102+. * ———. "The Bonmartini Murder Case." ''Cosmopolitan'', Oct. 1929, pp. 92+. * ———. "Fool!" ''Cosmopolitan'', Jan. 1930, pp. 83+. * ———. "The Clyde Mystery." ''Illustrated Detective Magazine'', July 1932, pp. 44–48. * ''The Benson Murder Case''. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1926 * ''The Canary Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1927 * ''The Greene Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1928 * ''The Bishop Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1929 * ''The Scarab Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1930 * ''The Kennel Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1933 * ''The Dragon Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1933 * ''The Casino Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1934 * ''The Garden Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1935 * ''The Kidnap Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1936 * ''The Gracie Allen Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1938 (APA: The Smell of Murder) * ''The Winter Murder Case''. New York: Scribners, 1939 * ———. Introduction. ''The Leavenworth Case'', by
Anna Katharine Green Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 – April 11, 1935) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories. Green ...
. New York: Modern Age Books, 1937, pp. iv–v. * ———. ed. and introd. ''The World's Great Detective Stories: A Chronological Anthology''. New York: Scribners, 1928. Originally issued under Wright's name; reprinted by Blue Ribbon Books as by Van Dine.


Scenarios for Warner film shorts

The titles are followed by dates reviewed by ''
Film Daily ''The Film Daily'' was a daily publication that existed from 1918 to 1970 in the United States. It was the first daily newspaper published solely for the film industry. It covered the latest trade news, film reviews, financial updates, informatio ...
''. * ''The Clyde Mystery'' (September 27, 1931). This starred Donald Meek and Helen Flint. *
The Wall Street Mystery
' (November 4, 1931) * ''The Week End Mystery'' (December 6, 1931). Advertised as ''The Week-End Mystery'' * ''The Symphony Murder Mystery'' (January 10, 1932). Advertised as ''The Symphony Mystery'' * ''The Studio Murder Mystery'' (February 7, 1932) *
The Skull Murder Mystery
' (March 1932) * ''The Cole Case (The Cole Murder Case)'' (April 3, 1932) * ''Murder in the Pullman'' (May 22, 1932) * ''The Side Show Mystery'' (June 11, 1932). Advertised as ''The Sideshow Mystery'' * ''The Campus Mystery'' (July 2, 1932). This is the only title in the series without Donald Meek. * ''The Crane Poison Case'' (July 9, 1932) * ''The Trans-Atlantic Murder Mystery'' (August 31, 1932). Advertised as
The Transatlantic Mystery
'


Parodies

* ''The John Riddell Murder Case''. Novel by John Riddell (Corey Ford), 1939


Poetry

* ''Beside the Sea''. The Province, 10 July 1909 * ''Song against Women''. Windsor Star, 14 November 1913 * ''Ode to Fads of Yesteryear''. Vanity Fair, ate Unknown Reprinted: Southwest News, 19 June 1924


References


Bibliography

* * Larkin, Mark, "The Philosophy of Crime," ''
Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For m ...
'', April 1929, p. 71. Profile of Van Dine. * *


External links

* * * * *
Works by S.S. Van Dine
a
Feedbooks
of UK first editions.

at Classiccrimefiction.com.

Louise Brooks Society.
The papers of Willard Huntington Wright
at the
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia is a research library that specializes in American history and literature, history of Virginia and the southeastern United States, the history of the Universit ...
at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Dine, S. S. 20th-century American novelists American mystery writers American male novelists American male journalists 1888 births 1939 deaths Harvard University alumni Writers from Charlottesville, Virginia American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers Journalists from Virginia 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Virginia 20th-century American non-fiction writers Pomona College alumni 20th-century pseudonymous writers