Gustav Höcker (28 September 1832 - 11 October 1911) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

of popular historical novels.

Biography

Gustav Höcker was born on 28 September 1832 in a suburb of

Eilenburg Eilenburg (; , ) is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Nordsachsen in Saxony, approximately 20 km northeast of the city of Leipzig. Geography Eilenburg lies at the banks of the river Mulde at the southwestern edge of the D� ...

. His father was a

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

in the textile industry, and his younger brother was

Oskar Höcker Oskar Höcker (13 June 1840 – 8 April 1894) was a German author of historical novels for children and a stage actor. Biography Oskar Höcker was born in a suburb of Eilenburg, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian Province of Saxony, as was his br ...

, who also became a writer. He spent his childhood in Eilenburg, an early industrial center, and received his secondary education in

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

. Until the age of 26 he was, against his will, a merchant (in 1862 he published ''Kaufmännische Carrieren: Wahrheit und Dichtung aus dem Geschäftsleben'', inspired by his career in trade), an occupation he left to become a professional writer. Höcker made a name for himself as a writer of narratives, many of which recount the events of the nineteenth century. He published studies and biographies of drama authors and politicians, and of musicians such as

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, and

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. A book with "simply written life-stories" on Haydn, ''Joseph Haydn: a study of his life and time for youth'', was translated into English and published in Chicago in 1907. He also wrote

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

s and assisted his brother Oskar, himself a prolific writer. He was influenced by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

, besides

Karl Gutzkow Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow ( in Berlin – in Sachsenhausen) was a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century. Life Gutzkow was born of an extremely poor family, not proletarian, but of the lowest and most menial ...

and Ferdinand Stolle. He spent much of his life in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, and died in Breslau on 11 October 1911. He attained a measure of commercial success with adaptations of novels in English, including novels by

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonial and indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

(''

The Deerslayer ''The Deerslayer, or The First War-Path'' was James Fenimore Cooper's fifth and last novel published in 1841 in his '' Leatherstocking Tales''. Its 1740–1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of t ...

'' and two collections of adapted "

Leatherstocking Tales The ''Leatherstocking Tales'' is a series of five novels ('' The Deerslayer'', ''The Last of the Mohicans'', '' The Pathfinder'', '' The Pioneers'', and '' The Prairie'') by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, set in the eighteenth-centur ...

"),

Robert Montgomery Bird Robert Montgomery Bird (February 5, 1806 – January 23, 1854) was an American novelist, playwright, and physician. Early life and education Bird was born in New Castle, Delaware, on February 5, 1806.Ehrlich, Eugene and Gorton Carruth. ''The Oxfo ...

(''

Nick of the Woods ''Nick of the Woods; or, The Jibbenainesay '' is an 1837 novel by American author Robert Montgomery Bird. Noted today for its savage depiction of Native Americans, it was Bird's most successful novel and a best-seller at the time of its releas ...

''), and

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, merchant and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translati ...

(''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' ( ) is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. Written with a combination of Epistolary novel, epistolary, Confessional writing, confessional, and Didacticism, didactic forms, the ...

''). His version of Charles Sealsfield's ''Tokeah, or the White Rose'' was only one of many German versions of the late 1890s.

Books authored (selection)

*''Kaufmännische Carrieren: Wahrheit und Dichtung aus dem Geschäftsleben''. Dresden: Rudolf Kuntze, 1862. *''Geld und Frauen: Erzählungen von Gustav Höcker''. Jena: Hermann Costenoble, 1867. *''Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart''. Glogau: Flemming, 1898. *''Das grosse Dreigestirn: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven''. Glogau: Flemming,

898 __NOTOC__ Year 898 ( DCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * January 1 – King Odo I (or Eudes) dies at La Fère (Northern France) after a 10-year reign. His rival, the 1 ...

*''Die vorbilder der deutschen schauspielkunst''. Glogau: Flemming, 1899. *''Zwei Jahren Deutschen Heldenthums''. Glogau: Flemming, 1906. *''Jena und Auerstädt: ein geschichtlicher Rückblick auf Preussens Unglückstage''. Leipzig: Carl Siwinna, 1907. *''Joseph Haydn: a study of his life and time for youth''. Trans. in English by George P. Upton. Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1907. *''Arnold of Winkelried''. Trans. in English by George P. Upton. Life Stories for Young People, 1908.

Translations and adaptations

*''Der Wildtöter''. Trans. of James Fenimore Cooper, ''The Deerslayer''. Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig: Union Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, 1880. *''Tokeah''. Trans. and adaptation of Charles Sealsfield, ''Tokeah, or the White Rose''. Stuttgart, Berlin, Leipzig: Union Deutsche Verlagsanstalt,

890s The 890s decade ran from January 1, 890, to December 31, 899. Significant people * Al-Mu'tamid * Al-Mu'tadid * Abdallah ibn al-Mu'tazz * Charles the Simple References Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:890s 890s, ...

References

External links

Gustav Höcker
in the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hocker, Gustav 1832 births 1911 deaths People from Eilenburg People from the Province of Saxony German crime fiction writers German male novelists Writers from Saxony German-language writers