The Weird Tales of FitzJames O'Brien
A Complete Bibliography of His
Supernatural Short Stories & Novelettes
With a Cartoon of Fitz forcibly recruiting New York ruffians for the McClelland's Rifles
I. Books:
Poems and Stories of Fitz-James O'Brien. Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1881; facsimile reprint from Irvington, 1972. Edited by William Winter. Of signal importance are remembrances of Fitz by Winter, Thomas E. Davis, Frank Wood, George Arnold, Stephen Fiske, and Louis H. Stephens. Most subsequent book editions and reprints of individual examples of Fitz's tales are derived from the Winter-edited texts, which were not definitive. Forty-three poems, of which several are fantastic in content, & thirteen short stories, of which the following seven are supernatural: "The Diamond Lens" "The Wondersmith" "The Bohemian" "The Lost Room" "The Pot of Tulips" "What Was it?" "The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjuror Piou-Lu."
The Diamond Lens and Other Stories New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1885; London: Ward and Downey, 1887. William Winter's edition with the same 13 stories but lacking the poems and remembrances.
What Was It? and Other Stories.London: Ward and Downey, 1889. Eight stories, including the supernatural "What Was It?" "The Lost Room" "The Pot of Tulips" "The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjuror Piou-Lu," again drawn from the Winter edition.
The Diamond Lens. Philadelphia: Henry Altemus Co., 1909. 1st separate publication of the classic horror story, in the "slip-in-the-pocket classics series" with elegant art nouveau boards. Introduction by Howard E. Altemus.
The Diamond Lens. New York: Happy Hour Library, n.d. [c1919]. Small wraps, the one classic tale bound together with Bayard Taylor's "Friend Eli's Daughter."
The Golden Ingot, The Diamond Lens, A Terrible Night, What Was It? A Mystery. New York: Reynolds Publishing Company [1921]; & reprinted in "Famous Authors' Handy Library", 1923, a small leatherette collection. "A Terrible Night" is a newly collected weird tale.
Collected Stories. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1925. Eight stories derived from the Winter edition, including the fantasies "The Diamond Lens" "The Wondersmith" "The Lost Room" "The Pot of Tulips" "What Was It? "The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjurer Piou-Lu"
Two Great Mystery Stories. Gerard, Kansas: Haldeman-Julius, n.d. [1926?]. Small wraps. Though I've held this tiny blue booklet in my hands in the past, I can't noe recall which two stories these are. Presumedly his best-known, "What Was It?" and "The Diamond Lens."
The Diamond Lens and Other Stories. New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1932. Illustrated by Ferdinand Huszti Howath; limited to 750 copies signed by the artist. Introduction by Gilbert Sledes. Seven stories drawn from William Winter's texts: "The Diamond Lens" "The Wondersmith" "The Pot of Tulips" "What Was It?" "The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjurer Piou-Lu".
Poems & Stories of Fitz-James O'Brien. New York: Irvington, 1972. Unseen, I assume this is a facsimile reprint of the 1881 edition.
Qu'etait-ce? et autres recits. Paris: Robert Marin, 1950. His seven key tales translated into French by Jacques Papy with introduction by Henri Parisot.
What Was It? New York: Frank Hallman & Oliphant Press, 1974. This is the famous story's first separate publication. Includes two illustrations by Leonard Baskin, who signed the 200 copy limited edition, handprinted by Ronald Gordon on grey stiff paper.
The Fantastic Tales. London: John Calder, 1977. Seven stories. This modern selection has texts altered from the Victorian originals. Either the editor tinkered with them or the texts were derived from an old UK edition of Fitz's stories of which I know nothing. Of the seven weird tales usually seen, "The Bohemian" has been left out, & supplanted with a tale apparently with its first book publication here: "Seeing the World".
The Lost Room & Other Stories. Tokyo: Sanrio SF Bunko, 1979. In Japanese, the following tales: "The Lost Room" "What Was It?" "The Pot of Tulips" "The Child Who Loved a Grave" "From Hand to Mouth" "The Diamond Lens" "How I Overcame My Gravity" "The Dragon Fang Possessed by the Conjurer Piou-Lu" "Seeing the World" & "The Wondersmith." I have never seen this book but it includes a couple items that had never been in book form in English until the 1988 complete fantasies & supernatural stories.
The Supernatural Tales of Fitz-James O'Brien Volume One: Macabre Tales. New York: Doubleday, 1988. Edited with introductory monograph and notes by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Texts restored to original magazine versions of the previously collected tales, adding others never before collected. "The Lost Room" "The Child that Loved a Grave" "The Diamond Lens" "The Pot of Tulips" "The Bohemian" "Seeing the World" "What Was It? A Mystery" "The Wondersmith" "The Dead Secret" "A Legend of Barlagh Cave" "Jubal, the Ringer."
The Supernatural Tales of Fitz-James O'Brien Volume Two: Dream Stories and Fantasies. New York: Doubleday, 1988. Edited with introduction and notes by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Texts restored to original magazine versions of the previously collected tales, adding others never before collected. "A Voyage in My Bed" "A Terrible Night" "A Day Dream" "The Other Night" "The Crystal Bell" "How I Overcame My Gravity" "Three of a Trade; or, Red Little Kriss Kringle" "From Hand to Mouth" "The Wonderful Adventures of Mr Papplewick" "The Comet and I" "The Man Without a Shadow: A New Version" "An Arabian Nightmare" "The King of Nodland and His Dwarf" "The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjuror Piou-Lu."
La lente de diamante y otras historias de terror y fantasÌa . Club Diogenes, 1989. Translated into Spanish by Elias Sarhan.
La lente di diamante e altri racconti. Citta di Castello: La Casa Usher, 1992 Translated into Spanish by Elena Tomei who followed the 1885 collection The Diamond Lens & Other Stories which are the William Winter texts. Introduction by Renzo Martinelli.
Original Appearances of the Weird Tales
"An Arabian Nightmare" [ascribed by Frances Wolle] in Household Words, November 8, 1851
"The Bohemian" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, July 1855
"The Child That Loved a Grave" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, April 1861. Its first book publication was in Groff Conlin's paperback anthology The Graveyard Reader (New York: Ballantine, 1958). A facsimile of the magazine pages for this story can be accessed Here thanks to Cornell University Library.
"The Comet and I" in Harper's Weekly, May 23, 1857; and its sequel "Twixt Cup and Lip" in Harper's Weekly, June 27, 1857.
"The Crystal Bell" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, December 1856
"A Day Dream" in Harper's Weekly, February 21, 1857.
"A Dead Secret" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, November 1853.
"The Diamond Lens" in Atlantic Monthly, January 1858. This often repinted classic is available as an E-text at the University of Virginia website; or another tidily presented E-text in the Litrix Reading Room
"The Dragon-Fang Possessed by the Conjuror Piou-Lu" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Mar 1856
"From Hand to Mouth" in New York Picayune, Mar 27-May 15, 1858
"How I Overcame My Gravity" posthumously in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, May 1864. A facsimile of the magazine pages for this story can be accessed Here thanks to Cornell University Library.
"Jubal, The Ringer" in The Knickerbocker, August 1858
"The King of Nodland and His Dwarf" in The American Whig Review, December 1852. Originally anonymous, integrated as part of a serialized series of tales, poems, and commentaries published under the general heading "Fragments from an Unpublished Magazine."
"A Legend of Barlagh Cave," a complete, independent folk tale intercalated into the novella "The Phantom Light," chapter five, in The Home Companion (London), January 31, 1852.
"The Lost Room" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, September 1858 .
"The Man Without a Shadow: A New Version" in The Lantern, September 4, 1852
"The Other Night" in American Whig Review, December 1852. Originally anonymous and untitled, integrated as part of a serialized series of tales, poems, and commentaries published under the general heading "Fragments from an Unpublished Magazine." The tale was assigned this title by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, derived from the opening three words of the story.
"The Pot of Tulips" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, November 1855.
"Seeing the World" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, September 1857.
"A Terrible Night" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, October 1856.
"Three of a Trade; Or, Red Little Kriss Kringle" in Saturday Press, December 25, 1858.
"A Voyage in my Bed" in American Whig Review, September 1852. Originally anonymous. integrated as part of a serialized series of tales, poems, and commentaries published under the general heading "Fragments from an Unpublished Magazine."
"What Was It? A Mystery" in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, March 1859. Brander Matthews' mutilated version of 1907 is available as an E-text
"The Wonderful Adventures of Mr. Papplewick" in The Lantern, March 13-May 8, 1852.
"The Wondersmith" in Atlantic Monthly, October 1859. The University of Virginia Library has made this story avaiable as an E-text
Biographical & Critical
Barnes, Emery. "Genius and Dandy: A Forgotten Master of the Short Story" in W. John O'London's Weekly, November 15, 1924.
Bleiler, E. F. "O'Brien, Fitz-James" entry in The Guide to Supernatural Fiction. Kent State University Press, 1983.
Brown, Harry C. "Fitz-James O'Brien & the Microscope" a 1997 on-line essay available Here.
Clareson, Thomas D. "Fitz-James O'Brien." In E. F. Bleiler, ed., Supernatural Fiction Writers. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985.
Cornwall, Neil. "Gothic and Its Origins in East and West: Vladimir Odoevsky & Fitz-James O'Brien." In Exhibited by Candlelight: Sources and Developments in the Gothic Tradition, edited by Valeria Tinkler Viviani, Peter Davidson & Jane Stevenson. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1995. Compares especially Odoevsky's "The Sylph" & O'Brien's "The Diamond Lens."
Franklin, H. Bruce. "Fitz-James O'Brien and Science Fiction." In Future Perfect: American Science Fiction of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.
Hillyer, William Sidney. "Facts in O'Brien's Brilliant Career" in New York Daily News Saturday Review of Books and Art, July 2, 1898.
Lamb, Hugh. "O'Brien, Fitz-James" minor entry in Jack O'Sullivan, ed., The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror & The Supernatural. New York: Viking, 1986.
Moskowitz, Sam. "The Fabulous Fantasist - - Fitz-James O'Brien." In Explorers of the Infinite. Cleveland and New York: World, 1963.
Parry, Albert. Garrets and Pretenders. New York: Covici Friede, 1933
Reilly, Joseph J. "A Keltic Poe" in The Catholic World March, 1920.
Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. "America's Extraordinary Bohemian." Introductory monograph for The Supernatural Tales of Fitz-James O'Brien Volume One: Macabre Tales. New York: Doubleday, 1988.
Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. "Nights of Ambrosia." Introduction to The Supernatural Tales of Fitz-James O'Brien Volume Two: Dream Stories and Fantasies. New York: Doubleday, 1988.
Sherwood, Mrs. M. E. W. "Fitzjames O'Brien" in New York Daily News Saturday Review of Books and Art, July 2, 1898.
Sledes, Gilbert. "Introduction" for The Diamond Lens & Other Stories. New York: William Edwin Rudge, 1932.
Wolle, Francis. Fitz-James O'Brien: A Literary Bohemian of the Eighteen-Fifties. Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 1944.
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