The World’s Greatest Books — Volume 06 — Fiction by Hammerton and Mee

Joseph Sheridan le Fanu, Irish novelist, poet, and journalist, was born at Dublin on August 28, 1814. His grandmother was a sister of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, his father a dean. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Le Fanu became a contributor to the “Dublin University Magazine,” afterwards its editor, and finally its proprietor. He also owned and edited a Dublin evening paper. Le Fanu first came into prominence in 1837 as the author of the two brilliant Irish ballads, “Phaudhrig Croohore” and “Shamus O’Brien.” His novels, which number more than a dozen, were first published in most cases in his magazine. His power of producing a feeling of weird mystery ranks him with Edgar Allan Poe. It may be questioned whether any Irish novelist has written with more power. The most representative of his stories is “Uncle Silas, a Tale of Bartram-Haugh,” which appeared in 1864. Le Fanu died on February 7, 1873.