Harlequin's Historical Novels Part IV

"If the historical novel continues to exert a particular fascination on our imagination, it surely has to do with its curious ability to reclaim the past, to use it as a tool for shattering the sameness - the inevitability - of the present."

                            Steven Hayward, Globe & Mail February 25, 2012

This comment in a review of a historical novel caught my attention.

Do any of Toronto publisher Harlequin's 45 historical novels by 30 authors that showed up in Canadian newsstands and drug stores between 1949 and 1959 "reclaim the past"? I don't know. I haven't read any and would need some training to assess how a novel might "reclaim the past". So I'll use the comment as an excuse to list the novels and show off a few covers. 

Harlequin #     1 - The Manatee - Nancy Bruff - 1949 

Harlequin #   11 - The Wicked Lady Skelton - Magdalen King Hall - 1949 (reprinted as #181)

Harlequin #   31 - The Golden Feather - Theda Kenyon - 1950 

Harlequin #   34 - Mobtown Clipper - S.S. Rabl - 1950 

Harlequin #   65   Bridewell Beauty - H.M.E. Clamp - 1950 

Harlequin # 113 - Beyond The Blue Mountains - Jean Plaidy - 1951 

Harlequin # 138 - Emma Hart - Lozania Prole - 1951 

Harlequin # 141 - Roger Sudden - Thomas H. Raddall - 1951 

Harlequin # 152 - Great Oaks - Ben Ames Williams - 1952 

Harlequin # 164 - Captain For Elizabeth - Jan Westcott - 1952 

Harlequin # 169 - Lady Of Cleves - Margaret Campbell Barnes - 1952 

Harlequin # 170 - The Sea Is So Wide - Evelyn Eaton - 1952 

Harlequin # 178 - The Goldsmith's Wife - Jean Plaidy - 1952 

Harlequin # 179 - Madame Serpent - Jean Plaidy - 1952 

Harlequin # 184 - Black Jade - Angeline Taylor - 1952 

Harlequin # 189 - The Nymph And The Lamp - Thomas H. Raddall - 1952 

Harlequin # 190 - Slave Ship - H.B. Drake - 1952 

Harlequin # 193 - The Firebrand - George Challis - 1952 

Harlequin # 196 - His Majesty's Yankees - Thomas H. Raddall - 1952 

Harlequin # 203 - Daughter Of Satan - Jean Plaidy - 1952 

Harlequin # 207 - Three Ships West - Harry Symons - 1953 

Harlequin # 208 - Pillar Of Fire - George Borodin - 1953 

Harlequin # 209 - The Rock Cried Out - Edward Stanley - 1953 

Harlequin # 215 - Turn Back The River - W.G. Hardy - 1953 

Harlequin # 217 - The Sea Hawk - Rafael Sabatini - 1953 

Harlequin # 225 - Sir Rusty Sword - Phillip Lindsay - 1953 

Harlequin # 237 - Island Of Escape - Alexander Key - 1953 

Harlequin # 247 - Dark Surgery - Ben Ames Williams - 1953 

Harlequin # 261 - Light In The Wilderness - E.B. Osler - 1953 

Harlequin # 266 - Catalina - W. Somerset Maugham - 1954 

Harlequin # 268 - The Unholy Woman - Jean Plaidy - 1954 

Harlequin # 269 - Queen Jezebel - Jean Plaidy - 1954 

Harlequin # 272 - The Fabulous Nell Gwynne - Lozania Prole - 1954 

Harlequin # 276 - Conflict - E.V. Timms - 1954 

Harlequin # 278 - The Bait And The Trap - George Challis - 1954 

Harlequin # 280 - The Nut Brown Maid - Philip Lindsay - 1954 

Harlequin # 286 - Colonel Blood - Max Peacock - 1954 

Harlequin # 290 - The Violent Years - E.V. Timms - 1954 

Harlequin # 298 - Pride's Fancy - Thomas H. Raddall - 1954 

Harlequin # 301 - Mary Read, Buccaneer - Philip Rush - 1954 

Harlequin # 303 - Captain Gentleman - Verne Fletcher - 1954 

Harlequin # 318 - The Half-Breed - M. Constantin-Weyer - 1954 

Harlequin # 330 - Convict Town - E.V. Timms - 1955 

Harlequin # 331 - Woman in Chains - E.V. Timms - 1955 

Harlequin # 373 - Tonight, Josephine! - Lozania Prole - 1956 

Harlequin 11 - September 1949

Harlequin 31 - February 1950

Harlequin 65 - August 1950

Harlequin 141 - December 1951

Harlequin 170 - May 1952

Harlequin 196 - November 1952

Harlequin Historical Novels Part III

In a couple of posts I discussed six of the 45 (of 481) titles that Harlequin Books published between 1949 and 1959 that were historical. Here are a couple more, both with Captain in the title.

Captain for Elizabeth by Jan Westcott (New York: Crown, 1948) and Verne Fletcher's Captain Gentleman (London: Gerald Swan, 1942) are both of a genre little seen today - Pirate novels. They're around but likely grafted on to a horror or fantasy story and/or marketed as a youth novel. Or a clear romance such as here.

Harlequin 164 - April 1952

Harlequin 164 back

Harlequin 303 - June 1954

Harlequin 303 back

Harlequin's Historical Novels Part II

Harlequin published 145 titles from 1949 to 1951 and 169 titles from 1952 to 1954. The percentage of romance and westerns stayed steady for each three year period. The large shift was in the other major genre, crime/thriller, which dropped from 53% to 28%. The genre that displaced the crime/thriller was historical, from 7 to 34 titles. The next five years saw only three (of a total 167 titles) more historicals.

Why so popular for that three year period? D_____d if I know. New editor? I know that the first one, Jack Palmer, died sometime in early fifties. Crime/thriller sales falling off so give historicals their kick at the can? Were hard cover historicals selling especially well during these years?

Here are 3 of the 34.

Great Oaks by Ben Ames Williams (1889-1953) was first published in 1930 (New York: Dutton).

George Challis's The Firebrand (New York: Harper) was first published in 1950. It is a collection of three stories originally published in Argosy. "The Firebrand” 11/24/1934 & 12/1/1934 (2 part serial), “The Great Betrayal” 2/2/1935-2/16/1935 (3 part serial) and “The Storm” 4/6/1935-4/20/1935 (3 part serial). Challis is a pseudonym for Frederick Faust (1892-1944).

Lady of Cleaves (New York: Macrae-Smith, 1946) by Margaret Campbell Barnes (1891-1962) has just been reissued along with many of her other books, likely due to the popularity of the recent series, The Tudors.

Harlequin 169 - May 1952

Harlequin 169 back

Harlequin 152 - February 1952

Harlequin 152 back

Harlequin 193 - October 1952

Harlequin 193 back

Harlequin's Historical Novels Part I

Continuing with our Harlequin Books May marathon here are three books that are in the historical fiction genre. Today Harlequin publishes a historical fiction romance series which is the descendant of these early historicals.

Forty-four of the 481 Harlequin titles published between 1949 and 1959 are historical fiction. Three of the earliest follow. The Golden Feather (New York: Julian Messner, 1943) was published by Harlequin in 1950. Beyond the Blue Mountains (New York: Appleton-Century, 1947) and Emma Hart (London: Museum Press, 1949 as Our Dearest Emma) date from 1951. The three authors account for 10 (Plaidy 6, Prole 3, Kenyon 1) of the 43 Harlequin historicals.

Harlequin 31

Harlequin 31 back

Harlequin 113

Harlequin 113 back

Harlequin 138

Harlequin 138 back