Thomas Power James (better known as T. P. James) was a publisher in
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about ...
best known for publishing a completion of Charles Dickens' ''
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870.
Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium ...
'' claimed to be written by the spirit of Dickens channeled through a
spiritualist summoning.
The book, published in 1873 under the title ''Part Second of the Mystery of Edwin Drood,'' was reviewed by the ''New York Times,'' as well as regional newspapers, like the ''
Salem Observer
The ''Salem Observer'' (1823-1919) was a weekly newspaper published in Salem, Massachusetts
Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans b ...
''.
With a successful marketing campaign, the book became an item of comment in the literary community, with an essay by
Arthur Conan Doyle in
''The Bookman'' negatively comparing the continuation of the novel with the original work.
Subsequent scholarship has later debated the authenticity and similarity of the work to the original Dickens.
A writing contest was hosted for several years in the town of Brattleboro to commemorate the hoax publisher, and will be re-launched in October of 2022.
References
Further reading
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External links
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American spiritualists
Charles Dickens
People from Brattleboro, Vermont
American publishers (people)
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