Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue
Three Men in a BoatThree Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford....
.
Jerome was born in
CaldmoreCaldmore is one of the villages that make up the town of Walsall . The pronunciation of Caldmore often leaves those from other areas in confusion, because it is pronounced 'Karma' or 'Calmer'.-History:...
,
WalsallWalsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation, and is sometimes described as part of the Black Country.Walsall...
, England, where he is honoured in a display at
Walsall MuseumThe Walsall Museum is located in the centre of Walsall, in the West Midlands and displays objects from the local area in its permanent history gallery, 'The Changing Face of Walsall', on the 1st floor...
, and was brought up in poverty in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
Other works include the essay collections
Idle Thoughts of an Idle FellowIdle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, published in 1886, is a collection of humorous essays by Jerome K. Jerome. It was the author’s second published book and it helped establish him as a leading English humorist. While widely considered one of Jerome’s better works, and in spite of using the same...
and
Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow;
Three Men on the BummelThree Men on the Bummel is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome. It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, Three Men in a Boat ....
, a sequel to
Three Men in a BoatThree Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford....
; and several other novels.
Jerome was the fourth child of Jerome Clapp (who later renamed himself Jerome Clapp Jerome), an ironmonger and lay preacher who dabbled in architecture, and Marguerite Jones.
There are the goods; if you want them, you can have them. If you do not want them, they would almost rather that you did not come and talk about them.
Three Men on the Bummel|Three Men on the Bummel 1900
It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do. There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do. Wasting time is merely an occupation then, and a most exhausting one. Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen.
"On Being Idle"
Love is like the measles; we all have to go through it. Also like the measles, we take it only once...No, we never sicken with love twice. Cupid spends no second arrow on the same heart.
"On Being in Love"
A boy's love comes from a full heart; a man's is more often the result of a full stomach. Indeed, a man's sluggish current may not be called love, compared with the rushing fountain that wells up when a boy's heart is struck with the heavenly rod. If you would taste love, drink of the pure stream that youth pours out at your feet. Do not wait till it has become a muddy river before you stoop to catch its waves.
"On Being in Love"
There have been a good many funny things said and written about hardupishness, but the reality is not funny, for all that. It is not funny to have to haggle over pennies. It isn't funny to be thought mean and stingy. It isn't funny to be shabby and to be ashamed of your address. No, there is nothing at all funny in poverty — to the poor.
"On Being Hard Up"
All is vanity and everybody's vain. Women are terribly vain. So are men — more so, if possible.
"On Vanity and Vanities"
We are so bound together that no man can labor for himself alone. Each blow he strikes in his own behalf helps to mold the Universe.
"On Getting on in the World"
Contented, unambitious people are all very well in their way. They form a neat, useful background for great portraits to be painted against, and they make a respectable, if not particularly intelligent, audience for the active spirits of the age to play before. I have not a word to say against contented people so long as they keep quiet.
"On Getting On in the World"
It always is wretched weather according to us. The weather is like the government — always in the wrong. In summer-time we say it is stifling; in winter that it is killing; in spring and autumn we find fault with it for being neither one thing nor the other and wish it would make up its mind...We shall never be content until each man makes his own weather and keeps it to himself.
"On the Weather"
Swearing relieves the feelings--that is what swearing does. I explained this to my aunt on one occasion, but it didn't answer with her. She said I had no business to have such feelings.
"On Cats and Dogs"
Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue
Three Men in a BoatThree Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford....
.
Jerome was born in
CaldmoreCaldmore is one of the villages that make up the town of Walsall . The pronunciation of Caldmore often leaves those from other areas in confusion, because it is pronounced 'Karma' or 'Calmer'.-History:...
,
WalsallWalsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation, and is sometimes described as part of the Black Country.Walsall...
, England, where he is honoured in a display at
Walsall MuseumThe Walsall Museum is located in the centre of Walsall, in the West Midlands and displays objects from the local area in its permanent history gallery, 'The Changing Face of Walsall', on the 1st floor...
, and was brought up in poverty in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
.
Other works include the essay collections
Idle Thoughts of an Idle FellowIdle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, published in 1886, is a collection of humorous essays by Jerome K. Jerome. It was the author’s second published book and it helped establish him as a leading English humorist. While widely considered one of Jerome’s better works, and in spite of using the same...
and
Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow;
Three Men on the BummelThree Men on the Bummel is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome. It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, Three Men in a Boat ....
, a sequel to
Three Men in a BoatThree Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford....
; and several other novels.
Early life
Jerome was the fourth child of Jerome Clapp (who later renamed himself Jerome Clapp Jerome), an ironmonger and lay preacher who dabbled in architecture, and Marguerite Jones. He had two sisters, Paulina and Blandina, and one brother, Milton, who died at an early age. Jerome was registered, like his father's amended name, as Jerome Clapp Jerome, and the Klapka appears to be a later variation (after the exiled Hungarian general
György KlapkaGyörgy Klapka, also known as Georg or George Klapka, was a Hungarian soldier.Klapka was born at Temesvár, Kingdom of Hungary and entered the Austrian Army in 1838...
). Owing to bad investments in the local mining industry, the family suffered poverty, and debt collectors often visited, an experience Jerome described vividly in his autobiography
My Life and Times.
The young Jerome wished to go into politics or be a man of letters, but the death of both his parents in 1872, when he was 13 years old, forced him to quit his studies and find work to support himself. He was employed at the
London and North Western RailwayThe London and North Western Railway was a railway company of the United Kingdom which existed between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. During the late...
, initially collecting coal that fell along the railway, and remained there for four years.
Acting career and early literary works
In 1877, inspired by his older sister Blandina’s love for the
theatreTheatre is a branch of the performing arts. While any performance may be considered theatre, as a performing art, it focuses almost exclusively on live performers creating a self contained drama. A performance qualifies as dramatic by creating a representational illusion...
, Jerome had decided to try his hand at acting, under the stage name Harold Crichton. He joined a
repertoryRepertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
troupe who tried to produce plays on a shoestring budget, often drawing on the meagre resources of the actors themselves to purchase costumes and props. Jerome had later comically reflected on this period in
On the Stage — and Off, where it is apparent that he was penniless at the time. After three years on the road and with no evident success, a 21 year old Jerome decided he had had enough with stage life, and sought other occupations. He tried to become a journalist, writing essays, satires and short stories, but most of these were rejected. Over the next few years he was a school teacher, a packer, and a solicitor’s clerk. Finally, in
1885The year 1885 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*February 18 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time*May 19 - Revised Version Old Testament published.*Thomas Hardy moves to Max Gate....
, he had some success with
On the Stage — and Off, a humorous book whose publication opened the door for more plays and essays.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle FellowIdle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, published in 1886, is a collection of humorous essays by Jerome K. Jerome. It was the author’s second published book and it helped establish him as a leading English humorist. While widely considered one of Jerome’s better works, and in spite of using the same...
, a collection of humorous essays, followed in
1886The year 1886 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:* MLN: Modern Language Notes, an academic journal founded with the intention of introducing European literary criticism into American scholarship, is founded at the Johns Hopkins University.-Books:*Louisa May Alcott - Jo's...
. On 21 June 1888, Jerome married Georgina Elizabeth Henrietta Stanley Marris (a.k.a. Ettie), nine days after she had divorced her first husband. She had a daughter from a previous, five-year marriage, nicknamed Elsie (her actual name was also Georgina). The honeymoon took place on the
ThamesThe River Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading and Windsor....
"in a little boat," a fact which was to have a significant influence on his next, and most important work,
Three Men in a Boat.
Three Men in a Boat and later career
Jerome sat down to write
Three Men in a BoatThree Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford....
as soon as the couple returned from their honeymoon. In the novel, his wife was replaced by his longtime friends George Wingrave (George) and Carl Hentschel (Harris). This allowed him to create comic (and non-sentimental) situations which were nonetheless intertwined with the history of the Thames region. The book, published in
1889The year 1889 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Theodore Roosevelt publishes the first of four volumes of The Winning of the West, with three more by 1896.-New books:*Gabriele D'Annunzio - Il piacere...
, became an instant success and has remained in print until the present. Its popularity was such that the number of registered Thames boats went up fifty percent in the year following its publication, and it contributed significantly to the Thames becoming a tourist attraction. In its first twenty years alone, the book sold over a million copies worldwide. It has been adapted to movies, TV and radio shows, stage plays, and even a musical. Its writing style influenced many humorists and satirists in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and elsewhere. Its endurance can probably be attributed to the style and choice of a relatively unchanged location, which ensures that the basic setting remains relevant, even as other things change..
With the financial security the sales of the book provided, Jerome was able to dedicate all of his time to writing. He wrote a number of plays, essays and novels, but was never able to recapture the success of
Three Men in a Boat. In 1892 he was chosen by
Robert BarrRobert Barr was a British-Canadian novelist, born at Glasgow, Scotland. He immigrated to Upper Canada at age four and was educated in Toronto at Toronto Normal School...
to edit
The IdlerThe Idler was an illustrated monthly magazine published in Great Britain from 1892 to 1911. It was founded by the author Robert Barr, who brought in the humorist Jerome K. Jerome as co-editor, and its contributors included many of the leading writers and illustrators of the time.-Content:The Idler...
(over
Rudyard KiplingRudyard Kipling was a British author and poet. Born in Bombay, British India, he is best known for his works of fiction The Jungle Book , Kim , many short stories, including The Man Who Would Be King ; and his poems, including...
). The magazine was an illustrated satirical monthly catering to gentlemen (who, following the theme of the publication, appreciated idleness). In 1893 he founded
To-Day, but had to withdraw from both publications because of financial difficulties and a libel suit.
In 1898, a short stay in Germany inspired
Three Men on the BummelThree Men on the Bummel is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome. It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, Three Men in a Boat ....
, the sequel to
Three Men in a Boat. While reintroducing the same characters in the setting of a foreign bicycle tour, the book was nonetheless unable to capture the life-force and historic roots of its predecessor, and it enjoyed only a mild success. In 1902 he published the novel
Paul Kelver, which is widely regarded as autobiographical. His 1908 play
The Passing of the Third Floor Back introduced a more sombre and religious Jerome. This was a tremendous commercial success but was condemned by critics -
Max BeerbohmSir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist.-Early life:Born in London, England at 57 Palace Gardens Terrace, Henry Maximilian Beerbohm was the last of several children of a Lithuanian-born grain merchant, Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm . His mother was Eliza...
described it as "vilely stupid" and as written by a "tenth-rate writer".
World War I and last years
Jerome volunteered to serve his country at the outbreak of the war, but, being 56 years old, was rejected by the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
. Eager to serve in some capacity, he volunteered as an ambulance driver for the
French ArmyThe French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest. As of 2008, the army employs 133,947 regular soldiers and 24 000+ civilians...
. The war experience was said to have dampened his spirit, as did the death in 1921 of his stepdaughter, Elsie.
In 1926, Jerome published his autobiography,
My Life and Times. Shortly afterwards, the Borough of Walsall conferred on him the title
Freeman of the BoroughFreedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe to esteemed members of its community or to organisations that have given the community heroic service; the term applies to two...
. During these last years, Jerome spent more time at his farmhouse in
EwelmeEwelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford.To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.The solid geology is chalk...
near
WallingfordWallingford is a small market town and civil parish in the upper Thames Valley in England. It was transferred from Berkshire to Oxfordshire in 1974.-Geography:...
.
In June 1927, on a motoring tour from Devon to London via Cheltenham and Northampton, Jerome suffered a paralytic
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
and a cerebral haemorrhage. He lay in
NorthamptonNorthampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. It is about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, and lies on the River Nene...
General Hospital for two weeks before succumbing on 14 June. He was cremated at
Golders GreenGolders Green is an area in the London Borough of Barnet in London, England. Although having some earlier history, it is essentially a 19th century suburban development situated about 5.3 miles north west of Charing Cross and centred on the crossroads of Golders Green Road and Finchley Road.In the...
and his ashes buried at St Mary's Church,
EwelmeEwelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, northeast of the market town of Wallingford.To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.The solid geology is chalk...
,
OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East England region, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire....
. Elsie, Ettie, and his sister Blandina are buried beside him. A museum dedicated to his life and works now exists at his birth home in Walsall.
Novels
- Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, published in 1886, is a collection of humorous essays by Jerome K. Jerome. It was the author’s second published book and it helped establish him as a leading English humorist. While widely considered one of Jerome’s better works, and in spite of using the same...
(1886)
- Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat , published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K. Jerome of a boating holiday on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford....
(To Say Nothing of the Dog) (1889)
- Diary of a Pilgrimage (and Six Essays) (1891) (full text)
- Novel Notes (1893)
- Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow (1898)
- Three Men on the Bummel
Three Men on the Bummel is a humorous novel by Jerome K. Jerome. It was published in 1900, eleven years after his most famous work, Three Men in a Boat ....
(aka Three Men on Wheels) (1900)
- Paul Kelver, a novel (1902)
- Tommy and Co (1904)
- They and I (1909)
- All Roads Lead to Calvary (1919)
- Anthony John (1923)
- The Love of Ulrich Nebendahl (1909)
- The Philosopher's Joke (1909)
Collections
- Told After Supper (1891)
- John Ingerfield: And Other Stories (1894)
- Sketches in Lavender, Blue and Green (1895)
- The Observations of Henry (1901)
- The Angel and the Author and Others (1904)
- American Wives and Others (1904)
- The Passing of the Third Floor Back: And Other Stories (1907)
- Malvina of Brittany (1916)
- A miscellany of sense and nonsense from the writings of Jerome K. Jerome. Selected by the author with many apologies, with forty-three illustrations by Will Owen. 1924
- Three Men in a Boat and Three Men on the Bummel (1974)
- After Supper Ghost Stories: And Other Tales (1985)
Anthologies containing stories by Jerome K. Jerome
- Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror 1st Series (1928)
- A Century of Humour (1934)
- The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries (1936)
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957)
- Famous Monster Tales (1967)
- The 5th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1969)
- The Rivals of Frankenstein (1975)
- The 17th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories (1981)
- Stories in the Dark (1984)
- Gaslit Nightmares (1988)
- Horror Stories (1988)
- 100 Tiny Tales of Terror (1996)
- Knights of Madness: Further Comic Tales of Fantasy (1998)
- 100 Hilarious Little Howlers (1999)
Short stories
- The Haunted Mill (1891)
- The New Utopia (1891)
- The Dancing Partner (1893)
- Evergreens
- Christmas Eve in the Blue Chamber
- Silhouettes
- The Skeleton
- The Snake
- The Woman of the Saeter
Plays
- The Maister of Wood Barrow: play in three acts (1890)
- The Night of Feb. 14th. 1899: a play in nine scenes
- Miss Hobbs: a comedy in four acts (1902)
- Fanny and the Servant Problem, a quite possible play in four acts (1909)
- The Master of Mrs. Chilvers: an improbable comedy, imagined by Jerome K. Jerome (1911)
- The Celebrity: a play in three acts (1926)
- Robina's Web ("The Dovecote," or "The grey feather"): a farce in four acts
- The Passing of the Third Floor Back
External links