Famous Impostors
First British edition (Sidgwick & Jackson, printed in the US)[1] | |
| Author | Bram Stoker |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Sturgis & Walton (US) |
Publication date | November 1910[2] |
| Publication place | United States, United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
Famous Impostors is the last of four non-fiction books completed by Bram Stoker, published in 1910.[3] It features numerous historical impostors and hoaxes. The work was released thirteen years after Dracula.
The first edition was published by the Sturgis & Walton Company of New York in November 1910.[2] The British edition was published by Sidgwick & Jackson of London, also dated 1910, but printed in the United States.[1] Newspaper and magazine coverage showed that it was published in January 1911.[4][5]
Contents
- Pretenders
- Perkin Warbeck
- The Hidden King — Sebastian of Portugal
- Stephan Mali — Šćepan Mali
- The False Dauphins
- Princess Olive
- Practitioners of Magic
- The Wandering Jew
- John Law
- Witchcraft and Clairvoyance
- Witches
- Doctor Dee
- La Voisin
- Sir Edward Kelley
- Mother Damnable - a brewer and owner of today's The World's End, Camden. Suspected witch after her death.
- Matthew Hopkins
- Arthur Orton (Tichborne claimant)
- Women as Men
- The Motive for Disguise
- Hannah Snell
- La Maupin
- Mary East
- Hoaxes, Etc.
- Two London Hoaxes — includes the Berners Street hoax
- The Cat Hoax — a scam to buy cats brought to a certain address
- The Military Review — a false parade announced at 1812
- The Toll-Gate — a practical joke played by Charles Mayne Young for not paying a toll
- The Marriage Hoax — a marriage stopped by the false claim that the groom already had a wife and children
- Buried Treasure — a false treasure unearthed by a victim and a swindler, which gives his share to the victim in exchange for something of value
- Dean Swift's Hoax — an alleged letter written by a criminal about his accomplices and hideouts
- Hoaxed Burglars — thieves steal a secure box containing lead
- Bogus Sausages — sausages are discovered to be skins filled with bread
- The Moon Hoax
- Chevalier d'Eon — A French diplomat, spy and soldier of ambiguous gender identity. Stoker's inclusion of d'Éon is now regarded as offensive.
- The Bisley Boy — A claim that Queen Elizabeth I of England was secretly a man
References
- ^ a b Copyright page. Full view of the UK edition, London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1910 (original from University of Wisconsin–Madison). HathiTrust Digital Library.
- ^ a b Copyright page. Full view of the US edition, New York: Sturgis & Walton, 1910 (original from University of California–Berkeley). HathiTrust Digital Library.
- ^ "Bram Stoker". Bibliography with numerous front cover images and price data. Fantastic Fiction.
- ^ Famous Impostors title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
- ^ Famous Imposters. bramstoker.org.
External links
- Famous Impostors at Project Gutenberg
- Famous Impostors public domain audiobook at LibriVox
- Famous Impostors at BramStoker.org Full PDF version of Famous Impostors.