Masterpieces of Adventure: Stories of Desert Places

Author Bio: others

Author Bio: Bret Harte

Bret Harte (1836–1902) was born in Albany, New York, and was raised in New York City. He had no formal education, but he inherited a love for books. Harte wrote for the San Franciscan Golden Era paper. There he published his first condensed novels, which were brilliant parodies of the works of well-known authors, such as Dickens and Cooper. Later, he became clerk in the US branch mint. This job gave Harte time to also work for the Overland Monthly, where he published his world-famous “Luck of the Roaring Camp” and commissioned Mark Twain to write weekly articles. In 1871, Harte was hired by the Atlantic Monthly for $10,000 to write twelve stories a year, which was the highest figure paid to an American writer at the time.

Author Bio: Egerton Castle

Egerton Castle (1858–1920) was born in London to a wealthy family, which included the publishing magnate, his grandfather Egerton Smith. Castle grew up to be an author, an antiquarian, and a swordsman. He was a champion in reconstruction of historical fencing techniques, and was even the captain of the British épée and sabre teams in the 1908 Summer Olympics. He wrote important books on the art and history of fencing and became an expert on and collector of bookplates. Many of his fiction novels were adapted into films in the early twentieth century, and he even co-wrote many other novels with his wife, Agnes Castle (née Sweetman).