Treasure 99: Local Fiction Collection

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Treasure 99: Local Fiction Collection

A lesser known part of our Local Studies stock is our substantial collection of local fiction.

The collection ranges from well-known figures like Lewis Grassic Gibbon to more obscure authors, largely forgotten in the history of literature. As way of an introduction to this sizable collection we will consider some of the lesser known authors in the collection and explore their lives. During the years of 1892 to 1894 Aberdeen City and Shire was home to the eccentric artist and man of letters, Frederick William Rolfe (1860-1913), also known as Baron Corvo. Rolfe was a Londoner who came from a strict and respectable family of Dissenters. He left school early before working as a schoolmaster and tutor. In Local Studies we have a copy of perhaps his most challenging work, Don Renato: An Ideal Content. It was published posthumously by Chatto & Windus in 1963. This is an experimental novel, taking the form of a diary of a fictional chaplain and physician in 16th century Rome.

Another author in our collection is William Gordon Stables (c.1837 - 1910), born in Aberchirder, who was the son of a vintner in Marnock and later Inverurie. During his time in the Navy and later in the merchant services, he worked and travelled all over the world including the Mediterranean, Africa, India and the South Seas. He wrote over 130 books and is primarily remembered as an author of boy's own adventure stories such as The Cruise of the Snowbird (1882), Wild Adventures Round the Pole (1883), and From Pole to Pole (1886). We hold a large number of Stables' novels. The volumes, published by a variety of companies, are often quite beautiful with intricate designs and illustrations on the binding and inside to accompany the story.

To learn about more interesting authors in our collection, have a browse in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition.

 

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Aberdeen Local Studies

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