# Prolific authors who have faded into obscurity **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439 "2014-11-23T21:48:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/1 "2014-11-23T21:48:01Z")
When I look at some of today’s authors, such as Stephen King, Jim Butcher, etc., it seems logical that their names will be widely-known for generations to come. But fame is fickle. My grandma loved the _Elsie Dinsmore_ books, by Martha Finley. But not one person in a thousand today could tell you anything about her. There were 28 (!!) books in the _Elsie_ series, plus 7 in the companion _Mildred Keith_ series. Yet Martha Finley has faded from public view. The same thing happened to her contemporary, “Pansy” (Isabella Macdonald Alden), although some of her books have been reprinted by Christian publishers in recent years. There’s also G. A. Henty, with a few dozen books to his name, although he is probably not quite as obscure as the others. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/2 "2014-11-23T22:24:26Z")
[Haroid Robbins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Robbins) sold more books than J.K Rowling, but how many people under 40 today have read any of them? Or even heard of him? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/3 "2014-11-23T22:26:07Z")
Winston Churchill was the most successful American novelist of the turn of the 19th century with multiple best sellers between 1896 and 1917. Now no one has ever heard his name.\* Same for Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth, who was the 19th century’s most successful American novelist. No one remembers Fletcher Knebel, either, even though some of his books were made into famous movies. 99% of all authors are forgotten within 50 years of their death. \*They may know of a British Prime Minister with a similar name who had to come to an agreement with the American to write his work as Winston S. Churchill. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/4 "2014-11-23T22:35:45Z")
I have seen George Lippard (1822-1854) described as the most popular American author of his day. His novel _Quaker City, or, The Monks of Monk Hall_ has been said to have been the best-selling American book before _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/5 "2014-11-23T22:36:48Z")
Ever read anything by [Edgar Wallace](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Wallace)? > [@](#): > > A prolific writer, one of Wallace’s publishers claimed that a quarter of all books then read in England were written by him. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/6 "2014-11-23T22:55:16Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > [Haroid Robbins](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Robbins) sold more books than J.K Rowling, but how many people under 40 today have read any of them? Or even heard of him? “Ahh yes. The giants.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/7 "2014-11-23T22:55:18Z")
Erle Stanley Gardner was, when he died, the best selling American author in the 20th Century. He wrote both fiction and non-fiction under his own name and a bunch of pseudonyms. If it weren’t for one of his characters, Perry Mason, he would be completely forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/8 "2014-11-23T22:59:59Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > “Ahh yes. The giants.” Nice, had to google it to get [the reference](http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Trek_IV:_The_Voyage_Home). Actually [Jacqueline Susann](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Susann)would qualify as well I think. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/9 "2014-11-23T23:13:15Z")
Umberto Eco, Laura Z. Hobson, Angela Thirkell, Jeannette Eyerly, and a gazillion others. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/10 "2014-11-23T23:24:12Z")
[Frank Yerby](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Yerby) Really well researched historical fiction ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/11 "2014-11-23T23:36:02Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Umberto Eco, Laura Z. Hobson, Angela Thirkell, Jeannette Eyerly, and a gazillion others. Umberto Eco published a best-seller in 2010. And Name of the Rose is hardly obscure. > [@lisiate](#): > > Actually Jacqueline Susann would qualify as well I think. Valley of the Dolls isn’t obscure. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/12 "2014-11-23T23:52:14Z")
Charles John Ctcliffe Hyne was a prolific and popular author about a hundred years ago, noted for his “Captain Kettle” series of stories and books. These are virtually forgotten today. I myself wouldn’t know about Cutcliffe Hyne, except that he also wrote **The Lost Continent** , which is arguably the best novel about Atlantis. (It’s not the basis for the George Pal Film, or the Disney film, or any film, for that matter). I only know of the book from its reprinting by Ballantine in the 1970s under the direction of Lin Carter, who was trying to resurrect lost fantasy, and its republication about a decade ago by Bison Books (with a foreword by Harry Turtledove). The book is currently on Project Gutenberg, which I believe reproduces the illustrations (lacking in the reprints). Worth a look. I’ve never tried to find any of the Captain Kettle books. > **[C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._J._Cutcliffe_Hyne)** > > Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne (11 May 1866 – 10 March 1944) was an English novelist who was also known by the pen name Weatherby Chesney. He is perhaps best remembered as the author of The Lost Continent: The Story of Atlantis. He is also remembered for his Captain Kettle stories and for The Recipe for Diamonds. > Hyne was born 11 May 1866. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Haggas (died 1938). They had a son named Charles Godfrey Haggas Cutcliffe Hyne (1 December 1897 – 21 November 1916), w... > **[The Lost Continent: The Story of Atlantis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Continent:_The_Story_of_Atlantis)** > > The Lost Continent: The Story of Atlantis (1899) is a fantasy novel by English author C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne. It is considered one of the classic fictional retellings of the story of the drowning of Atlantis, combining elements of the myth told by Plato with the earlier Greek myth concerning the survival of a universal flood and restoration of the human race by Deucalion. > The novel was published first in serial form in Pearson's Magazine in the issues for July–December 1899, and in hardcover boo... > **[The Lost Continent by Charles John Cutcliffe Wright Hyne](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/285)** > > Free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by volunteers. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/13 "2014-11-23T23:53:45Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Valley of the Dolls isn’t obscure. Do you know anybody under the age of 60 who has read it? Or over 60 who read it for the first time within the last 30 years? It is as dead as its author. Wife is a fan of Kathleen Norris, the SIL of Frank Norris, not the current Christian writer. Top selling woman novelist of the first half of the 20th, now almost completely unknown. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/14 "2014-11-23T23:59:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve never tried to find any of the Captain Kettle books. You [can get](http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Captain-Kettle-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B009WSAVVE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416787080&sr=8-2&keywords=captain+kettle) all of them for 99 cents on Kindle. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/15 "2014-11-24T00:00:29Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > When I look at some of today’s authors, such as Stephen King, Jim Butcher, etc., it seems logical that their names will be widely-known for generations to come. But fame is fickle. > > My grandma loved the _Elsie Dinsmore_ books, by Martha Finley. But not one person in a thousand today could tell you anything about her. There were 28 (!!) books in the _Elsie_ series, plus 7 in the companion _Mildred Keith_ series. Yet Martha Finley has faded from public view. > > The same thing happened to her contemporary, “Pansy” (Isabella Macdonald Alden), although some of her books have been reprinted by Christian publishers in recent years… I’d like to mention the Elsie Dinsmore books. I read the first one as a kid–so did my sister. We found it dreadfully cloying & rather nasty. (She lived on a plantation Before The War.) I seem to recall some anti-Catholicism, too. Alas, the books have not been forgotten. The more pious homeschoolers love her. Of the “older” books, we far preferred Louisa May Alcott’s. Even though most of her juveniles weren’t as good as _Little Women_. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/16 "2014-11-24T00:11:05Z")
The forgotten movie thread made me think of [Arthur Hailey](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15704-2004Nov26.html). Also [John Creasey](http://www.johncreasey.co.uk/). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/17 "2014-11-24T00:13:40Z")
**The Lost Continent** is also at Sacred Texts (!!) website. They hasve the illustrations, too, including the cover _in color_: > **[The Lost Continent Index](https://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/tlc/index.htm)** > > The Lost Continent, by Cutcliffe Hyne, \[1900\], full text etext at sacred-texts.com ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/18 "2014-11-24T00:25:04Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Do you know anybody under the age of 60 who has read it? Or over 60 who read it for the first time within the last 30 years? It is as dead as its author. An audiobook version was released in 2009. The latest English reprint of it is in 2008, the latest foreign edition is 2010. And wikipedia has a lengthy list of pop-culture references to it, many of which are pretty recent. Plus a biopic of the author in 2000, a radio adaptation in 2005 and a planned (and scraped?) TV series in 2011. It’s not Harry Potter, obviously, but its well enough known. People are still reading it, people can reference it in sitcoms knowing at least some of the audience will get the joke and it still gets mined for the occasional remake/adaptation. That’s much more than you can say for the other authors mentioned in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/19 "2014-11-24T00:26:01Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Erle Stanley Gardner was, when he died, the best selling American author in the 20th Century. He wrote both fiction and non-fiction under his own name and a bunch of pseudonyms. If it weren’t for one of his characters, Perry Mason, he would be completely forgotten. Yes, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s famous, he would be forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439/20 "2014-11-24T00:34:49Z")
I decided to pick out the best selling novelists the year I was born and was actually surprised at the number that are still well known today (including Hemingway and Salinger). But there also was Thomas B. Costain, Frances Parkinson Keys, Agnes Sligh Turnbull, Frank Yearby, and Howard Spring. If you go back to 1934, there’s Hervey Allen, Caroline MIller, Stark Young, Margaret Ayer Burns, Phyllis Bottome,\* Mary Ellen Chase, and Alice Tisdale Hobart. \*If she were well known, the Minions would have made a joke of that name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prolific-authors-who-have-faded-into-obscurity/705439.md?page=2)