Victor Rousseau Emanuel

Victor Rousseau Emanuel (born Avigdor Rousseau Emanuel; January 1879 – 6 April 1960, Tarrytown, New York) was a British writer who wrote novels, newspaper series, science fiction and pulp fiction works. He was active in Great Britain and the United States during the first half of the 20th century.

During the first 20 years of his career, Emanuel wrote predominantly under the pen names Victor Rousseau, H. M. Egbert, and V. R. Emanuel. In the 1930s, he only created pulp fiction under his own name. He wrote racy stories under the pen name Lew Merrill.

Early years

Born in England, Emanuel enrolled at Harrow School in 1892 and Balliol College, Oxford in 1896. However, he soon let Balliol and sailed to Cape Town. For the next two years, Emanuel travelled South Africa, working odd jobs. While in Johannesburg, he obtained a journalist job with the ''Standard and Diggers' News'' and then the ''Transvaal Leader''.

In 1899, during the Boer War, Emanuel enlisted with Edward Cecil Bethune's Mounted Infantry, a British Army unit. However, he was discharged after 35 days. Several weeks later, Emanuel registered with the Natal Colonial Scouts at Pietermaritzburg. He was officially discharged from the Scouts in April 1900.

Early works

Emanuel returned to London, wrote and published his first novel, ''Derwent's Horse''. It was a humorous account of two recruits serving with Bethune's Mounted Infantry. With the proceeds from this novel, Emanuel sailed to New York City, in June 1901.

While between jobs in 1902, Emanuel began writing his second novel, ''Spartacus''. It was inspired by Gustave Flaubert's novel, '' Salammbo''. In September 1905, Emanuel submitted ''Spartacus'' to Houghton-Mifflin They rejected it for publication, saying it was a weak novel with poor characterisation. That same year, Emanuel assisted with the '' Jewish Encyclopedia'', published by Funk & Wagnalls in 1905 and 1906.

Emanuel's earliest known fiction output appeared in late 1905, in the form of children's vignettes, syndicated nationally, carrying the byline V. R. Emanuel.

From early 1906 through 1907, Emanuel wrote regional Florida special articles for the ''Baltimore American.'' He took on an editorial post with Will Carleton's ''Every Where'' magazine in mid-1907. Here, he also created the alias Egbert Prentice. This name morphed into the H. M. Egbert alias.

Emanuel made his first official professional magazine sale, with a short story about the Canadian North, "The Last Cartridge," in ''The Munsey'' (1907 September).

''Harper's Weekly''

In 1908, Emanuel started working as an editor for ''Harper's Weekly,'' a position he retained for three years. It is here that H. M. Egbert makes its earliest known debut, within the edition of 26 December 1908, attached to an article, rather than a fiction story.

Whilst employed by Harpers, Emanual wrote special articles and the occasional short story. Stories he or the staff deemed unfit for publication by ''Harper's Weekly'' were sold to the ''Illustrated Sunday Magazine,'' a nationally syndicated publication''.'' Stories that failed to meet with this editor's approval were likewise circulated to lesser syndicates.

Newspaper series

In 1909, Emanuel started his series ''The Surgeon of Souls.'' This series featured Dr. Ivan Brodsky, a man who believed in faith and hypnotism as the cure toward laying ghosts, etc. The stories were syndicated amongst the big-city newspapers under the alias H. M. Egbert, but sold poorly. Fifteen years later, 11 of the surviving tales were reprinted as original fiction in ''Weird Tales'' magazine, bylined under Victor Rousseau.

Emanuel's first science fiction series was ''The Devil Chair''. John Haynes, an Englishman, stripped of inherited land in America, is paralysed by a bullet to the spine and falsely imprisoned. While in the prison workshop, he fashions a gyroscopic device, that whilst adhered initially to a boot, propels him a couple hundred miles per hour. While affixed to any object, the device cannot be removed, until he deactivates it. Once free from prison, Haynes uses his device to exact retribution on all his enemies.

Canada

In 1913, Emanuel, his wife and two children moved to Canada. He wrote the Canadian-themed serials ''Jacqueline of Golden River'' and ''Wooden Spoil''. Both serials eventually become hardcover books and sold extremely well.

In early 1914, Emanuel began the popular series ''Tales of the St. Lawrence Riverway''. Set in the village of St. Jean, Quebec, the central character was Father Sebastian, the village priest. Nine ''Riverway'' stories appeared in ''Blue Book'' magazine (1914 September through 1915 May), whilst others, unaccepted here, were sold elsewhere over the ensuing years. In the 1930s, the series was reprinted by the ''Toronto Star'' and the ''Boston Globe''.

In early 1914, Emanuel finished, ''The Messiah of the Cylinder'', a novel influenced by H. G. Wells

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