Seven Men
Encyclopedia
Seven Men is a collection of short stories
written by English
caricaturist
, essayist
and parodist
Max Beerbohm
. It was published in Britain
in 1919 by Heinemann
and in the United States
in 1920 by Alfred A. Knopf
, and has been described as a "masterpiece."
of six fictional characters
. Beerbohm himself is the seventh man with whom the others interact. One of the most popular stories in the collection is Enoch Soames
, the tale of a poet who makes a deal with the devil to find out how posterity will remember him. Seven Men includes two supernatural comedies, "Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton", a tale of invisibility, and "A. V. Laider", a tale of prevision.
A review of Seven Men said:
Martin Maner wrote of Seven Men that in it Beerbohm "anticipated postmodernism" in his insights into the problems of twentieth-century mass culture and that Seven Men is "an anomaly, a postmodernist fiction written before its time."
An enlarged edition, Seven Men, and Two Others, with a new story and two new characters, Felix Argallo and Walter Ledgett, was published by Heinemann in 1950.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
written by English
England
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
caricaturist
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
, essayist
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
and parodist
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
. It was published in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1919 by Heinemann
Heinemann (book publisher)
Heinemann is a UK publishing house founded by William Heinemann in Covent Garden, London in 1890. On William Heinemann's death in 1920 a majority stake was purchased by U.S. publisher Doubleday. It was later acquired by commemorate Thomas Tilling in 1961...
and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1920 by Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
, and has been described as a "masterpiece."
Background
Seven Men contains Beerbohm's biographiesBiography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of six fictional characters
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
. Beerbohm himself is the seventh man with whom the others interact. One of the most popular stories in the collection is Enoch Soames
Enoch Soames
Enoch Soames is a short story by the British writer Max Beerbohm. It appeared in the collection Seven Men and was originally published in the May 1916 edition of The Century Magazine. It is well-known for its clever and humorous use of the ideas of time travel and pacts with the Devil...
, the tale of a poet who makes a deal with the devil to find out how posterity will remember him. Seven Men includes two supernatural comedies, "Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton", a tale of invisibility, and "A. V. Laider", a tale of prevision.
A review of Seven Men said:
"In Seven Men the brilliant English caricaturist and critic Max Beerbohm turns his comic searchlight upon the fantastic fin-de-siècle world of the 1890s1890sThe 1890s were sometimes referred to as the "Mauve Decade" - because William Henry Perkin's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion - and also as the "Gay Nineties", under the then-current usage of the word "gay" which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...
— the age of Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, Aubrey BeardsleyAubrey BeardsleyAubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, done in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A....
, and the young YeatsWilliam Butler YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
, as well of Beerbohm's own first success. In a series of luminous sketches, Beerbohm captures the likes of Enoch SoamesEnoch SoamesEnoch Soames is a short story by the British writer Max Beerbohm. It appeared in the collection Seven Men and was originally published in the May 1916 edition of The Century Magazine. It is well-known for its clever and humorous use of the ideas of time travel and pacts with the Devil...
, only begetter of the neglected poetic masterwork Fungoids; Maltby and Braxton, two fashionable novelists caught in a bitter rivalry; and "Savonarola" Brown, author of a truly incredible tragedy encompassing the entire Italian RenaissanceItalian RenaissanceThe Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
. One of the masterpieces of modern humorous writing, Seven Men is also a shrewdly perceptive, heartfelt homage to the wonderfully eccentric character of a bygone age."
Martin Maner wrote of Seven Men that in it Beerbohm "anticipated postmodernism" in his insights into the problems of twentieth-century mass culture and that Seven Men is "an anomaly, a postmodernist fiction written before its time."
An enlarged edition, Seven Men, and Two Others, with a new story and two new characters, Felix Argallo and Walter Ledgett, was published by Heinemann in 1950.
Contents of Seven Men (1919)
- Enoch SoamesEnoch SoamesEnoch Soames is a short story by the British writer Max Beerbohm. It appeared in the collection Seven Men and was originally published in the May 1916 edition of The Century Magazine. It is well-known for its clever and humorous use of the ideas of time travel and pacts with the Devil...
- Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton
- James Pethel
- A. V. Laider
- 'Savonarola' Brown
Contents of Seven Men and Two Others (1950)
- Enoch Soames
- Hilary Maltby and Stephen Braxton
- James Pethel
- A. V. Laider
- Felix Argallo and Walter Ledgett
- 'Savonarola' Brown
External links
- http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1038004Seven Men in the National Library of AustraliaNational Library of AustraliaThe National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
Collection] - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1306/1306-h/1306-h.htmFull text of Seven Men on Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
] - Annotated text of Seven Men
- Turning the pages of Seven Men