St George Henry Rathborne (26 December 1854 - 16 December 1938), who also wrote as Harrison Adams and many other names, was an American author of boys' stories and

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. He is believed to have produced over 330 volumes of fiction in the course of a 60-year career. He had a proclivity for and skill in producing outdoor

adventure stories Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedi ...

, and his best works fall within that category.

Life

Rathborne was born in

Covington, Kentucky Covington is a list of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, Kenton County, Kentucky, United States, located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Licking River (Kentucky), Licking Rivers. Cincinnati, Ohio, ...

to Gorges Lowther Rathborne and Margaret H. Robertson Rathborne. He attended Woodward High School,

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, the oldest public high school in the United States. He married Jessie Fremont Conn in 1879, and with her had four children. Rathborne lived in northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

for most of his adult life. Rathborne was affiliated with various dime novel publishers over the course of four decades, but most strongly associated with

Street & Smith Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as dime novels and pulp fiction. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks. Among t ...

, with whom he spent 20 years as author and editor. After 1910, he wrote almost exclusively in the juvenile series book genre. Frequently wrote under

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, and such works account for the bulk of his literary output. His pseudonyms are many and poorly documented, and some remain unidentified. He probably used at least 30 different pen names in his career as a dime novelist, and more than 20 others during his years of series book writing. Poor documentation of his pseudonyms makes the attribution of his works occasionally difficult, and the full extent of his published writings may never be known. There are more liberal estimates of his output, and it is possible that he produced as many as 450 novels. Rathborne wrote under many names, including Harrison Adams, Hugh Allen, Oliver Lee Clifton, Duke Duncan, Aleck Forbes, Lieutenant Keene, Marline Manly, Mark Merrick, Marne Miller, Warne Miller, Harry St. George, W. B. Lawson, Dash Dale, Col. Lawrence Leslie, Jack Howard, Ward Edwards, Old Broadbrim, Jack Sharpe, Major Andy Burton, A Private Detective, Alex. Robertson, M.D., Herbert Carter, Gordon Stewart, John Prentice Langley, Louis Arundel and Col. J.M. Travers. to add to the confusion it was not unknown for authors to use the same pseudonym when writing for a particular publishing house. Rathborne died in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Chicago Ledger'' (1909) * The Young Fur Takers; or, Traps and Trails in the Wilderness (as St. George Rathborne) in the '' Chicago Ledger'' (1910) * The House-Boat Boys; or, Floating Down to Dixie (as St. George Rathborne) in the '' Chicago Ledger'' (1911) This was later bound as "The House Boat Boys; Or, Drifting Down to the Sunny South" (1912) * Boy Scout Adventures; or, Lost in the Everglades (as St. George Rathborne) in the '' Chicago Ledger'' (1912) * Jack Sewell's Fortunes (as St. George Rathborne) in the '' Chicago Ledger'' (1914) * The Get There Club; or, Motor Boat Boys Afloat (as St. George Rathborne) in the '' Chicago Ledger'' (1915) * Lone Scout Boys; or, For Preparedness (as St. George Rathborne) in the '' Chicago Ledger'' (1916) * The Castaway Boys; or, Lost on a Raft (as St. George Rathborne) in the '' Chicago Ledger'' (1917) * Roaring Ralph Rockwood, the reckless ranger * Rattling Rube or, The night hawks of Kentucky * Camp mates in Michigan: or, With pack and paddle in the pine woods * Rocky Mountain Boys Or, Camping in the Big Game Country * The boy cruisers, or, Paddling in Florida * Daring Davy, the young bear killer: or, The trail of the border wolf * A goddess of Africa: a story of the golden fleece * A son of Mars * Chums in Dixie, or, The strange cruise of a motorboat * A chase for a bride a romance of the Philippines * A sailor's sweetheart, or, Fighting for love and country * The champion Texan rider * The hunter Hercules or, The champion rider of the plains. A romance of the prairies * Hickory Harry * Thunderbolt Tom or, The wolf-herder of the Rockies * Paddling under palmettos * Custer's Scout * The poker king, or, A cool million at stake, ''c''. 1890, writing as Marline Manly * Old Specie, the Treasury detective, or, The harbor lights of New York, ''c''. 1890 writing as Alexander Robertson, M.D. * Custer's last shot, or, The boy trailer of the Little Horn, writing as Col. J.M. Travers * The House Boat Boys; Or, Drifting Down to the Sunny South (1912) * Motor Boat Boys; Mississippi Cruise Or, The Dash for Dixie, writing as Louis Arundel (1912) * Miss Caprice

As Herbert Carter

* The Boy Scouts at the Battle of Saratoga; or, The Story of General Burgoyne’s Defeat (1909) * The Boy Scouts' First Camp Fire; or, Scouting with the Silver Fox Patrol (1913) * The Boy Scouts in the Rockies; or, The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine (1913) * The Boy Scouts on the Trail; or, Scouting through the Big Game Country (1913) * The Boy Scouts in the Blue Ridge; or, Marooned Among the Moonshiners (1913) * The Boy Scouts in the Maine Woods; or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol (1913) * The Boy Scouts Through the Big Timber; or, The Search for the Lost Tenderfoot (1913) * The Boy Scouts Down in Dixie; or, The Strange Secret of Alligator Swamp (1914) * The Boy Scouts Along the Susquehanna; or, The Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood (1915) * The Boy Scouts on War Trails in Belgium; or, Caught Between Hostile Armies (1916) * The Boy Scouts Afoot in France; or, With the Red Cross Corps at the Marne (1917) * The Boy Scouts on Sturgeon Island; or, Marooned Among the Game-fish Poachers

As Harry St George

* Starr's American Novels. No. 104 * Pocket Novels. No. 86 * Half-Dime Library. Nos. 30, 44, 59, 108, 166, 172, 1110 * Boy's Library (octavo). No. 154 * Pocket Library. Nos. 20, 25, 43, 101, 148, 192, 458

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rathborne, St. George 1854 births 1938 deaths 19th-century American novelists 20th-century American novelists American male novelists 19th-century American male writers Dime novelists 20th-century American male writers Woodward High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) alumni