STEAD, W(illiam) T(homas)

(1849-1912)

   UK editor (from 1871) and writer; he edited Borderland, a journal dealing with psychic phenomena, during 1893-97, andfounded and edited Review of Reviews in 1890. He isperhaps most notorious for an article, "Maiden Tribute to Modern Babylon" (1885 The Pall MallGazette), which pruriently details the deflowering of a child prostitute, but which didhave some effect in raising the age of consent. If Christ Came toChicago!: A Plea for the Union of All Who Love in the Service of All Who Suffer(1894) similarly fails to escape unctuousness, but its depiction ofa religious co-operative UTOPIA has points of interest. Blastus,the King'sChamberlain: Being the Review of Reviews Annual for 1896 (1895;vtBlastus the King's Chamberlain: a Political Romance1898) is a tale of NEAR FUTURE political intrigue, the second half of which is set in1900.The Despised Sex (1903) is constructedas a report sent - by a visitor to England - to Dione, the queen of Xanthia, a matriarchy in centralAfrica,for whom Britain is a kind of LOST WORLD. Along with John Jacob ASTOR and Jacques FUTRELLE, WTS went down on the Titanic.

   JC