BESANT, Sir Walter

BESANT, Sir Walter
(1836-1901)
   UK writer known primarily for his work outside the sf field; founder member of the Society of Authors; knighted 1895. His early novels were written in collaboration with James Rice (1843-1882); their The Case of Mr Lucraft and Other Tales (coll 1876) contains several fantasies, including the bizarre title story about a man who leases out his appetite. The Revolt of Man (1882 anon; 1897 as WB) is an anti-suffragette novel depicting a female-dominated society of the future; it exemplifies the sexual attitudes and imagination of the Victorian gentleman in a fashion which modern readers might find unwittingly funny. The Inner House (1888) is a significant early DYSTOPIA in which a technology of IMMORTALITY results in social stagnation. The Doubts of Dives (1889; reprinted in Verbena Camellia Stephanotis coll 1892) is an earnest identity-exchange fantasy. Uncle Jack etc. (coll 1886) includes "Sir Jocelyn's Cap", an F. ANSTEY-esque fantasy novella written in collaboration with Walter Herries Pollock (1850-1926). A Five Years' Tryst (coll 1902) includes the sf story "The Memory Cell". WB's abiding interests in social reform and abnormal psychology bring a few of his other novels close to the sf borderline, most notably the dual-personality story The Ivory Gate (1892); his credulity concerning ESP is responsible for the introduction of (very minor) fantastic elements into several others.
   BS

Science Fiction and Fantasy Encyclopedia. . 2011.

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  • Besant, Sir Walter — ▪ British author born August 14, 1836, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England died June 9, 1901, London  English novelist and philanthropist, whose best work describing social evils in London s East End helped set in motion movements to aid the poor.… …   Universalium

  • Besant, Sir Walter — (1836 1901)    Born in Portsmouth and educated at King s College London and Christ s College, Cambridge, Besant is better known for his novels and philanthropy than for his poetry. Much of his boyhood is described by him in his novel By Celia s… …   British and Irish poets

  • BESANT, SIR WALTER —    a man of letters, born at Portsmouth; eminent chiefly as a novelist of a healthily realistic type; wrote a number of novels jointly with James Rice, and is the author of French Humourists, as well as short stories; champion of the cause of… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Besant, Sir Walter — (1836 1901)    Novelist and historian of London, b. at Portsmouth and ed. at King s Coll., London, and Camb., was for a few years a professor at Mauritius, but a breakdown in health compelled him to resign, and he returned to England and took the …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Walter Besant — né le 14 août 1836 à Portsmouth et mort le 9 juin 1901 à Londres était un écrivain anglais. Il était aussi le beau frère d Annie Besant. So …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Walter Besant — Sir Walter Besant (* 14. August 1836 in Portsmouth, England; † 9. Juni 1901 in Hamstead/London, England) war ein englischer Sozialreformer und Schriftsteller, der vor allem auf das städtische Massenelend aufmerksam machte. Neben Essays und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Walter Besant — (14 de agosto de 1836, Portsmouth 9 de junio de 1901, Londres) novelista e historiador británico. Hijo de un comerciante nació en Portsmouth, Hampshire y se educó en el King s College de Londres y en Cambridge …   Wikipedia Español

  • Besant — (spr. bĕsännt), Sir Walter, engl. Schriftsteller, geb. 14. Ang. 1836 in Portsmouth, gest. 9. Juni 1901 in London, studierte seit 1859 in Cambridge zuerst Theologie, war dann 6 Jahre Professor am Collège Royal auf Mauritius und widmete sich bald… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Besant — (bĕsännt), Sir Walter, engl. Schriftsteller, geb. 14. Aug. 1836 zu Portsmouth, gest. 9. Juni 1901 in Heath bei Hampstead; veröffentlichte mit J. Rice (1872 82) »Besant Rice novels«, dann allein zahlreiche Romane (»The children of Gibeon«, 1886),… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Walter Besant — BiographyThe son of a merchant, he was born at Portsmouth, Hampshire and attended school at St Paul s, Southsea, Stockwell Grammar, London and King s College London.In 1855, he was admitted as a pensioner to Christ s College, Cambridge, where he… …   Wikipedia

  • Besant — /bez euhnt/ for 1; /beuh zant /, older /bez euhnt/ for 2, n. 1. Annie (Wood), 1847 1933, English theosophist. 2. Sir Walter, 1836 1901, English novelist. * * * …   Universalium

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