Part 9
“This was published in 1819: its circulation was limited to Wiltshire and the adjoining counties: except that Mr. John Long, the High Sheriff, in that year presented two, by his own wish to Graham and Best, on the Circuit.... I do not know how to obtain 3 more copies of this.”--_MS. Note in the B.M. copy._
See Notes and Queries, 2 S. ii., 229. 277.
ONE WHO IS REALLY AN ENGLISHMAN, _phraseonym_ [C. W. SMITH].
Letters published in The Sun, by C. W. S[MITH] justifying the Coup d’Etat of the 2nd Dec., and condemning the ... attack of the “Times,” and other journals in their comments upon the policy of the Emperor Napoleon III., by ----. Lond., 1853.
ONE WHO LOVES THE SOULS OF THE LAMBS of Christ’s Flock, _phraseonym_ [Rev. _Richard Marks_, Vicar of Great Missenden, Bucks?]
English History for Children, from four to ten years of Age. London, _J. Nisbet_, 1832-3.
We dare not allow ourselves to comment upon a person who uses such a pseudonym as this.
ONE WHO THINKS FOR HIMSELF, _phraseonym_ [ ].
Metropolitan Grievances; or a serio-comic Glance at Minor Mischiefs in London, &c. Plate by G. Cruikshank. _Sherwood_, 1812.
We could not find a better instance of the careful manner in which books are read through, when required for the purpose of cataloguing them at the British Museum, than this little work. At p. 42 we read “Here I am, Thomas Truewit, Esq., the renowned author of the ‘Grievances,’” etc., and from this the work is catalogued under ‘Truewit.’
O’REILLY (Miles) _ps._ [Colonel CHARLES G. HALPINE].
The Life and Adventures, Songs, Services ... of Private ----.... With comic illustrations by Mullen. From the authentic records of the New York Herald. New York, 1864.
Baked Meats of the Funeral ... Essays, etc. By Private M. O’Reilly. New York, 1866.
OSBORNE (Edward) _fictitious name_ [Miss ANNE MANNING].
The Colloquies of E. O., Citizen and Cloth Worker of London, as reported, By ye author of “Mary Powell” (q.v.), 1860.
OUIDA, _pseudonym_ [Miss RAME].
Cecil Castlemane’s Gage. Chandos, 3 vols., 1866. Randolph Gordon. Strathmore. Held in Bondage, or Granville de Vigne, 1863. Idalia--Under Two Flags, 1867. Mostly in 3 vols., all London.
We do not gather from this lady’s works that any of them have appeared in periodical publications.
OWEN (Ashford) _pseudandry_ [ANNIE OGLE].
A Lost Love. Lond., Edinb. (printed). 1855.
OXFORD MEMBERS, _geonym._
See Contributors to Tracts for the Times.
P.
P. (Professor). See A * * * * * (Major) _init._ [POLE].
P---- (P----) Poet Laureate [i.e., Peter Pindar] _allonym_ [GEORGE DANIEL].
R----l [Royal] Stripes, or a Kick from Yar----h [Yarmouth] to Wa----s [Wales, afterwards George IV.], with particulars of an expedition to Oatlands, and the Sprained Ancle, 1812.
This was suppressed.
PARLEY (Peter) _pseudonym_ [SAMUEL GRISWOLD GOODRICH, an American bookseller, who afterwards devoted himself entirely to Authorship. “In 1851, the President of the United States--his excellency Millard Fillmore--conferred a deserved compliment upon Mr. Goodrich by appointing him consul at Paris.”]
In the history of the world it would be impossible, we think, to find a more popular pseudonym than that of Peter Parley. Since 1828, one hundred and seventy volumes, bearing that name, or edited under it, have been issued. Of all these about 7,000,000 of volumes have been sold: about 300,000 volumes are now sold annually. Our plan precludes our giving the titles of these works, on almost every subject; but the curious reader will find a complete list in S. A. Allibone’s Critical Dictionary of English Literature, 1859.
PARLEY (Peter). This pseudonym has been claimed, but without cause, and after his death, for the late Mr. S. Kettell (of America) the only pretext being that he had worked for the real “Simon Pure.” But the claim was as unjust as that now set up by Mr. Pugin that his father designed the Houses of Parliament.
PARLEY (Peter) _impostor_.
As we have before observed that it would be almost impossible to find a name under which more popular and useful works have been written than this; so we think it would be difficult to find one which has been more the subject of barefaced and open robbery, both on the part of literators and publishers.
Among the most notorious we have Peter Parley’s Annual, _Darton & Co._ (publishers), continued from 1841 to 1855, 14 vols. And 12 others by the same publishers, all spurious. Life of St. Paul, _Simpkins_, 1845. Visit to London, 1838, and Twelve Apostles, _Bogue_, 1844. 8 published by _Tegg_, 1837-40. Bible Geography, _J. S. Hodson_, 1839. Child’s First Step, _Clements_, 1839.
PARLEY (Peter) _impostor_ [WILLIAM MARTIN].
Peter Parley’s Annual: a Christmas and New Year’s Present for Young People. Edited by William Martin. (Darton & Co.) Lond., 1867. This is one of the spurious works above referred to.
The author who has so long traded on a dead writer’s _nom de plume_ avows himself. His name is William Martin. To those who care for Samuel Goodrich’s honest fame in the world of letters, it will be interesting to know that his impersonator has again flung away a piece of his mask, and stands revealed as William Martin, Holly Lodge. Mr. Martin, you have taken one step in the right direction, and we congratulate you on that sign of uneasiness, if not of penitence. Why not take another step, and desist altogether from using Peter Parley’s title, to which you have no kind of right that can be recognised in a court of honour.
Athenæum, Jan. 5, 1867, No. 2045, p. 29.
P. P’s Peeps at Paris, 1848. Our Oriental Kingdom, or Tales about India, 1857. The Travels, Voyages and Adventures of Gilbert Go-Ahead, 1857. The Hatchings of me and my Schoolfellows, edited by W. Martin 1858. P. P’s. Own Favourite Story Book, edited by W. M., 1864. The Holiday Keepsake, 1865.
We do not believe this list to contain anything like the number of spurious works.
PARLEY (Peter) _impostor_ [GEORGE MOGRIDGE].
Tales about Shipwrecks and Disasters at Sea, 1827.
Great Britain and Ireland. Tales about Greece, 1837. Tales about Rome and Modern Italy, 1839.
These are imitations of the real P. P.’s tales about Ancient and modern Greece. This seems to be the earliest thief.
PARLEY (Peter) _allonym_ [ ].
The Lives of the Twelve Apostles, 1844. The Life and Journeys of Paul the Apostle, 1845. The Travels and Adventures of Thomas Trotter, of Boston, U.S. [_apocryph_], as told by himself. Edited by Peter Parley, 1845.
This edition was revised by the Rev. T. Wilson.
“There are still other counterfeits of Parley’s works, issued by various parties in London. The utter disregard of truth, honour, and decency, on the part of respectable British authors and publishers in this wholesale system of imposition and injustice, is all the more remarkable when we consider that the British public and especially the British authors and booksellers are denouncing us in America as pirates, for refusing international copyright.
“The conduct of all these parties places them, morally, on a footing with other counterfeiters and forgers: public opinion, in the United States, would consign persons conducting in this manner to the same degree of reprobation. Can it be that, in England, a man who utters a counterfeit five-pound note is sent to Newgate, while another may issue thousands of counterfeit volumes and not destroy his reputation?”--S. G. GOODRICH, _see Allibone_.
PARTINGTON (Mrs.) _pseudonym_ [B. P. SHILLABER].
The Sayings and Doings of ----. Lond., 1854. Mrs. P.’s Tea Party and Trip to Paris, 1856.
PASQUIN, _pseud._ [ ].
Legendes ofe the 19th Century. The Dragone ofe Oxforde ande St. George ofe Sainte Stevene’s. Part the first. Writ by Pasquin. Lond., Bath, printed 1853. No more published.
PASQUIN (Adolphus) _pseud._ [ ].
The Age of Lead. A Satire ... with an Introduction by G. Gilfillan. Lond., 1858.
PASTORINI (Sig.) _pseud._ [CHARLES WALMESLEY, Bishop of Rama].
The General History of the Christian Church, from her Birth to her final triumphant state in Heaven. 4th edition, New York, 1846.
PAUL, _pseud._ [Sir W. SCOTT].
Paul’s Letters to his Kinsfolk. Lond. and Edinb., 1816.
The copy in the British Museum has MS. corrections by Sir W. Scott.
P. B. St. J., _initialism_ [PERCY B. ST. JOHN (pronounced Sinjen)].
These initials are signed at the end of a story called “Quadroona,” in the London Journal. _G. Vickers_, Nos. 599-627, 1856-7.
He signs “Blythe Hall,” the tale before the above in full.
PEACOCK (Timothy) _fictitious name_.
See A Member of the Vermont Bar.
PELHAM (M.) _pseudonym_ [Sir R. PHILLIPS].
The Parent’s and Tutor’s first Catechism (with a clockface and moving hands.) Printed for R. P., the author.
We have been unable to ascertain whether this “authoress,” as he calls her in the preface, was married or not, and, in fact, the gallant vegetarian was somewhat in doubt himself, we think.
See N. & Q., 3 S. xii. 394.
PENDENNIS (Arthur) _pseud._ [WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY].
The Newcomes: Memoirs of a most respectable family, edited by ----. Lond., 1854.
PENFEATHER (Amabel) _pseud._ [ ].
Elinor Wyllys; or, the Young Folk of Longbridge, a tale, by ----. Edited by J. F. Cooper. Phil., 1846, 2 vols.
PENN (William) _pseud._ [JEREMIAH EVERTS].
Essays on the present crisis in the condition of the American Indians; first published in the National Intelligencer, under the signature of ----. Phil., 1830.
PENROSE (Llewellyn) _fictitious name_ [JOHN EAGLES].
Journal of ----, a Seaman. Lond., 1815, 12mo, 4 vols. Since republished.
PEPPER (K. N.) _phrenonym_ [JAMES W. MORRIS].
PEPPERCORN (H.) M.D., _supposed-author_ [Rev. R. H. BARHAM].
Some verses as above, entitled “The Dark-Looking Man,” first published in the _Globe and Traveller_, of which the following is the moral:
Merchants, East and West India, now list to me, pray, Attend to the moral I draw from my lay-- Shun strife, nor let Port e’er your senses trepan; Above all, don’t fall out with a dark-looking man!
See N. & Q. 3 S. xii.
PEPPERCORN (Peter) M.D., _phren._ [THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK].
Some capital verses, “Rich and Poor, or Saint and Sinner,” also first published in _The Globe and Traveller_, beginning:--
“The poor man’s sins are glaring In the face of ghostly warning; He is caught in the fact Of an overt act, Buying greens on Sunday morning.”
_S. Blyth, N. & Q._
PERCY (Sholto) _pseud._ [J. C. ROBERTSON].
Sir W. Scott, his Novels, &c., abridged, &c.
PERCY (Sholto) _pseud._ [ROBERTSON].
The Percy Anecdotes, by SHOLTO [J. C. ROBERTSON] and REUBEN PERCY [THOMAS BYERLEY] Brothers of the Benedictine Monastery, Mont. Berger [_pseudo-titlonym_]. Lond., 1820-3, 12mo, 20 vols.
The History of London, by the same, 1824.
Notes & Queries 1 S. vii. 214.
PERSIC (Peregrine) _pseud._ [JAMES MORIER].
The Adventures of Hajji Baba of Ispahan. Lond., 1824.
PETER, _pseud._ [JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART, Sir Walter Scott’s son-in-law].
Peter’s Letters to his Kinsfolk. Edin., 1819. 3 vols.
First appeared in Blackwood’s Mag.
P. H., see W. D.
PHILALETHES, M.A., Oxon., _phrenonym_ [ROBERT FELLOWES].
History of Ceylon from the earliest period to the year 1815, religion, laws, and manners of the People, their Maxims and ancient proverbs. By ----, to which is subjoined Robt. Knox’s historical relation of the Island, and his Captivity for nearly 20 years, &c. Lond., 1817. 4to.
Ceylon being seceded to the English, caused Knox’s long-forgotten book to be resuscitated. The publisher no doubt considered that a second edition of a work originally published in 1681 would not be likely to attract attention; he therefore got an introduction written, and appended the work of Knox, which forms the staple of the book.
PHILALETHES, _phren._ [Sir R. J. W. HORTON].
On Colonies. Lond., 1839.
N. & Q. 3 S. vii. 449.
PHILIP (Uncle) _pseud._ [FRANCIS L. HAWKS].
A number of American Histories and Tales for Children, published in New York.
See Stevens’ Cat. of Am. Bks., 1859.
PHILO-JUNIUS, _pseud._, see Junius.
PHIZ, _pseud._ [HABLOT KNIGHT BROWNE], one of the most popular draughtsmen of the day. He succeeded Seymour in the illustrations to the Pickwick Papers, and afterwards illustrated several of Charles Dickens’ other works.
PHŒNIX, _pseud._ [Sir HENRY MARTIN, Bart.].
Archbishop Murray’s Douay and Rhemish Bible, &c. Lond., 1850.
PHŒNIX (John) _pseud._ [Captain GEORGE H. DERBY].
Phœnixiana, or Sketches and Burlesques. New York, 1856. 11th edit.
The Squib Papers, with comic illustrations by the author. New York, 1865.
PHOTIUS, junior, _pseud._ [SHERLOCK, a young barrister of Dublin].
Letters on Literature. 2 vols. Brussels, 1836.
S. Redmond, N. & Q.
PINDAR (Paul) _pseud._ [JOHN YONGE AKERMAN].
Legends of Old London. 1842.
First published in Bentley’s Miscellany.
PINDAR (Paul) _pseud._ [ ].
Jew-De-Bras (a Burlesque Poem). Lond., _Newby_ [1850].
PINDAR, (Peter) _pseud._ [JOHN WALCOT].
The Lamentations of the Porter-Vat [occasioned by the bursting of one at Meux and Co.’s]. 1814.
The Fat Knight and the Petition; or, Bits in the Dumps. 1815.
And numerous others of the same kind. He had a number of imitators. It is said that he had a pension given him, on condition that he should write no more in abuse of the King, George III.
PINDAR (Peter) _impostor_ [C. F. LAWLER].
A poetaster of little or no art unwarrantably assumed this name, merely to deceive the public [how easily that is done sometimes, this work amply proves] and to bring profit to the writer and his bookseller.--Biog. Dict. 1816.
PINDAR (Peter) Esq., _allonym_ [ ].
Hymn to the Virgin [Joanna Southcott].
PINDAR (Peter) _allonym_ [ ].
A Peep behind the Curtain. 1816.
Royalty Bewitched; or, the Loves of William [Duke of Gloucester] and [the Princess] Mary. A [satirical] poem. 1816.
The Contest of Legs; or, Diplomatics in China. In a Letter from Zephaniah Bull to John Bull at home. 1817.
Bubbles of Treason, &c., &c. 1817.
The Bath Pump Room; or a Sovereign Remedy for Low Spirits. A [satirical] poem [on Queen Charlotte]. 1818.
The Disappointed Duke [of Clarence]. 1818.
PISCATOR, _phrenonym_ [T. P. LATHY, q.v.].
PISCATOR, _phren._ [ ].
Practical Angler. Lond., _Simpkin_ [Launceston, printed]. 1842.
PISCATOR, _phren._ [ ].
A Practical Treatise on the Choice and Cookery of Fish. 1854.
We have given these two unknown ones, lest they should be fathered on the _known_.
PLYMLEY (Peter) _pseud._ [Rev. SYDNEY SMITH].
Letters on the Subject of the Catholics to my Brother Abraham, who lives in the Country. 21st edit. Lond., 1838.
POLYPUS, _ps._ [E. S. BARRETT].
All the Talents. A satirical poem, in three dialogues. 1st (?) and 17th edition. Lond., 1807.
PORCUPINE (Peter) _phrenonym_ [WILLIAM COBBETT, of political celebrity].
The Rush-Light. New York, 1800.
PORCUPINE (Peter) _allonym_ [ ].
The Pop-Gun Plot; or, Shots in the Air, &c. Lond., 1817.
P. P. C. R., _pseudonym_ [THOMAS WATTS, Keeper of the Printed Books, British Museum].
Under these initials, Mr. Watts wrote letters in the Mechanic’s Magazine, 1836-7, on the British Museum Library. He has himself carried out the suggestions for the improvement of the library that he thus made. What the initials mean we do not know, though we do know that they mean something. “S. S.” [Solomon Secundus] writes about the same time on the same subject.
PRESBYTER, _demonym_ [SAMUEL HENRY TURNER].
Strictures on Archdeacon Wilberforce’s Doctrine of the Incarnation, &c. New York, 1851.
PRESBYTER ANGLICANUS, _phrenonym_ [J. H. HARRIS].
Auricular Confession not the Rule of the Church of England. 1852.
PRESBYTER CATHOLICUS, _phrenonym_ [WILLIAM HARNESS].
Visiting Societies and Lay Readers. Lond., 1844.
PRIOR (Samuel) _pseud._ [JOHN GALT].
All the Voyages round the World ... [abridged and] ... collected by ----. Lond., 1820.
PROUT (Father) _pseudonym_ [F. S. MAHONY].
The Reliques of Father Prout.... collected and arranged by Oliver Yorke [F. S. MAHONY], illustrated by A. Croquis [D. MACLISE]. Lond., 1849.
PRY (Paul) _pseud._ [ ].
London Joke-Book, or New Bon-Mot Miscellany. Lond., _J. Weston_, 1835. Vignette of Paul Pry on the title-page, and underneath:
“Beg pardon--just popp’d in to shew My Book of Jokes and smart Bon-Mots.”
Oddities of London Life. 1838.
PSALMANAZAR (George) _pseudonym_.
The most extraordinary impostor on record. He himself would never divulge his real name, wishing only to be known as an impostor. So degraded and vagabondish had his life been, that he assumed the above name, and bore it with him to the grave, having faithfully kept the secret of his birth and parentage.
He is now only remembered as the author of a strange fabrication, entitled:--
An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, an island subject to the Emperor of Japan. Giving an account of the Religion, Customs, Manners, &c., of the Inhabitants. Together with a relation of what happen’d to the author in his Travels; particularly his Conferences with the _Jesuits_, and others, in several parts of _Europe_. Also the History and Reasons of his Conversion to Christianity, with his Objections against it (in defence of Paganism), and their Answers. To which is prefixed a Preface in vindication of himself from the reflections of a _Jesuit_ lately come from _China_, with an account of what passed between them. By GEORGE PSALMANAAZAAR, a native of the said Island, now in _London_. Illustrated with several cuts. Lond. Printed for Dan Brown, at the Black Swan without _Temple-Bar_, &c. 1704. 8vo; 8 + xiv. + 2 + 131 + 4.
“Without having travelled out of Europe, he invented an account of an Asiatic island, and preserved sufficient consistency in his narrative to obtain for it, for a time, almost universal credence. Long after the imposture was discovered, the book was _quoted_ as _genuine_, and it is admitted to carry with it an air of fact and reality, which does credit, at any rate, to the ingenuity of the author.”
But Psalmanaazaar, “who is still in England, hath long since ingenuously owned the contrary, tho’ not in so publick a manner as he might perhaps have done had not such an avowment been likely to have affected some few persons, who for private ends took advantage of his youthful vanity, to encourage him in an imposture which he might otherwise never have had the thought, much less the confidence, to have carried on. Those persons being now dead, and out of all danger of being hurt by it, he now gives us leave to assure the world that the greatest part of that account was fabulous ... and he designs to leave behind him a faithful account of that unhappy step ... to be published after his death, when there will be less reason to suspect him of having disguised or palliated the truth.”--_A Complete System of Geography._ By Emanuel Brown. 1747. Fol. ii. 251.
It is said that Psalmanazar himself wrote the genuine account of Formosa in the above work as a compensation for his fabrication. But in the work itself the account is acknowledged to be taken from another author who resided there, but whose account is admitted to be almost as bad as Psalmanazar’s.
But little interest now attaches to a fabrication once so famous. There was, however, a completeness about the imposture which renders it remarkable. Psalmanazar’s great difficulty was to support the character he had assumed.
There was nothing Asiatic in his appearance; he was surrounded by sceptical inquirers, and frequently puzzled with questions and objections; but his hardihood and ingenuity enabled him to maintain his ground, and baffle his most pertinacious opponents. In the narrative of his life, which, in a spirit of penitence, he drew up in after-years, he has given an interesting account of the strange adventures of his youth. For this we must refer the reader to that work, or to any of the biographical dictionaries, or to the source whence we have adopted much--namely, Mr. Lawrence’s article in Sharpe’s London Magazine.
The first edition of the remarkable romance of which we have given the full title-page was soon exhausted, and another called for. The second edition contains “a new preface, clearly answering everything that has been objected against the author and the book, and a map and a figure of an idol not in the former impression.” Many editions of the translation were published in France. In spite of its improbabilities, the book was devoutly believed. Psalmanazar was sent to Oxford, and maintained there by the Bishop of London.
The first period of Psalmanazar’s life was, as he himself confessed, sufficiently infamous: in the second he endeavoured, by sincere repentence, to atone for his youthful errors and disreputable impostures. Dr. Johnson, who at the latter period knew him well, often stated that he was the best man he had ever known, and that he would as soon have thought of contradicting a bishop as George Psalmanazar.
During the latter portion of his life he supported himself entirely by literary pursuits. He wrote part of “the Universal History.”
A Dialogue between a Japonese and a Formosan about some Points of the Religion of the Time [laid down in a book entitled _The Growth of Deism_]. By G. P----m----r. Lond., _Lintott_, 1707. 12mo; 10 + 41. 1s.
“To vindicate the Japoneses from that unjust character this part of the world is pleased to give them--viz., of being a people much given to superstition.”
Eclaircissemens nécessaires pour bien entendre ce que le Sr. N. F. D. B. R., dit être arrivé à l’Ecluse en Flandres, par rapport à la Conversion de Mr. George Psalmanaazaar, Japonois dans son livre intitulé “Description de l’Isle Formosa.” Donné au public par ISAAC D’AMALVI, Pasteur de l’Eglise Wallonne de ladite Ville. A la Haye. _P. Husson_, 1707.
An Enquiry into the Objections against G. Psalmanazar, of Formosa, in which the accounts of the people ... are proved not to contradict his accounts; with ... map ... and the other very particular description of Formosa. To which is added G. P.’s Answer to Mons. D’Amalvy of Sluice. Lond., _Lintott_ [1710].
The Potter hates another of his Trade If by his Hand a finer Dish is made; The Smith his brother Smug with scorn does treat That strikes his Iron with a brisker beat.
Essays on the following subjects: I. ... Miracles.... II. ... Balaam’s disappointment.... III. On Jabin’s Defeat.... IV. and V., &c., &c., written some years since, at the desire, and for the use of a young clergyman in the country. By a Layman, in Town [G. Psalmanazar].... Lond., for A. Millar, 1753. 8vo.
Memoirs of * * * *, commonly known by the name of George Psalmanazar, a reputed native of Formosa. Written by himself, in order to be published after his death.... Lond., printed for the Executrix, 1764. 2nd edition, 1765, with portrait. Another edition, Dublin, 1765. 12mo.
For French translations see Quérard, _La France Litt._ and _Les Supercheries Litt. Dévoilées_.
He died on the 23rd of May, 1763, at his lodgings in Ironmonger Row, Old Street, St. Luke’s, London.
PUBLICOLA _ph._ [Mr. SMITH wrote under this pseudonym in the _Dispatch_ in 1838].
PUBLICOLA, _ph._ [JOHN WILLIAMS].
Letters of ----, 1st series. Lond., 1840.
We have a number of other works by Publicola, all unknown.
P. W. [Rev. PIERCE WILLIAM DREW, Vicar of Youghal, Cork, Ireland].
An Account of the Present State of Youghal Church, &c. Cork, 1848.
J. P----r.
Q.
Q, _ps._ [ ]. You have heard of them. By Q. New York, _Redfield_. Lond., _Trübner_, 1854.
Q., _pseud._ [EDMUND YATES].