Pearl Mary Teresa Richards (November 3, 1867 – August 13, 1906) was an Anglo-American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

who wrote under the pen-name of John Oliver Hobbes. Though her work fell out of print in the twentieth century, her first book ''Some Emotions and a Moral'' was a sensation in its day, selling eighty thousand copies in only a few weeks.

Early years

Pearl Mary Teresa Richards, born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, was the eldest daughter of the businessman

John Morgan Richards John Morgan Richards (February 16, 1841''With John Bull and Jonathan'' – August 11, 1918), was an American businessman and entrepreneur who made his fortune from the promotion of patent medicines and American cigarettes in Britain. He was the fa ...

and his wife Laura Hortense Arnold. Her father had Calvinist roots and her grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. The family moved to London soon after her birth, and she was educated in London and Paris.

Beginnings

When she was nineteen, she married Reginald Walpole Craigie, by whom she had one son, John Churchill Craigie. The unhappy marriage was dissolved on her petition in July 1895. She was brought up as a Nonconformist, but in 1892 she was received into the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, where she remained, until her death, a devout and serious member. Her successful career as a novelist and playwright also made her a popular socialite with associates as diverse as

George Tyrrell George Tyrrell (6 February 1861 – 15 July 1909) was an Anglo-Irish Catholic priest and a highly controversial theologian and scholar. A convert from Anglicanism, Tyrrell joined the Jesuit order in 1880. His attempts to adapt Catholic the ...

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

, and George Moore, who had been her lover.

Career

Her first book, the brief, epigrammatic ''Some Emotions and a Moral'', was published in 1891 in T. Fisher Unwin's Pseudonym Library. With its accounts of unhappy marriage and infidelity, it was an immediate hit.Martin Seymour-Smith, ''Hardy'' (1994) p. 477 Following it were similarly bohemian novels like ''The Sinner's Comedy'' (1892), ''A Study in Temptations'' (1893), ''A Bundle of Life'' (1894), and ''The Gods, Some Mortals, and Lord Wickenham''. ''The Herb Moon'' (1896), a country love story, was followed by ''The School for Saints'' (1897), with a sequel, ''Robert Orange'' (1900). Her novels were ridiculed in a contemporary verse: :John Oliver Hobbes, :with your spasms and throbs, :How does your novel grow? :With cynical sneers :at young Love and his tears, :And epigrams all in a row. Richards had already written a one-act proverb, ''Journeys end in Lovers Meeting'', produced by

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry (27 February 184721 July 1928) was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and toured ...

in 1894, and a three-act tragedy, ''Osbern and Ursyne'', printed in the ''

Anglo-Saxon Review ''The Anglo-Saxon Review'' was a quarterly miscellany edited by Lady Randolph Churchill, and published in London by John Lane. It was short lived, running from June 1899 to September 1901 a total of 10 volumes. Churchill's son, Winston Churchill, ...

'' (1899), when her successful piece, ''The Ambassador'', was produced at the

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham (tenor), John Braham; it lost mone ...

in 1898. ''A Repentance'' (one act, 1899) and ''The Wisdom of the Wise'' (1900) were produced at the same theatre, and ''The Flute of Pan'' (1904) first at Manchester and then at the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. It opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, with a capacity of 2,500. The current capacity is 1,416. The title "Shaftesbury Theat ...

; she was also part author of ''The Bishop's Move.'' (

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...

, 1902). The first Act of her play ''The Fool's Hour'', written in collaboration with George Moore was published in Volume I of

The Yellow Book ''The Yellow Book'' was a British quarterly literary periodical that was published in London from 1894 to 1897. It was published at The Bodley Head Publishing House by Elkin Mathews and John Lane, and later by John Lane alone, and edited by th ...

, a leading journal of the 1890s associated with

Decadence Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

and

Aestheticism Aestheticism (also known as the aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century that valued the appearance of literature, music, fonts and the arts over their functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be produced to b ...

.Yellow Nineties Online.
John Oliver Hobbes 001

Later books are ''The Serious Wooing'' (1901), ''Love and the Soul Hunters'' (1902), ''Tales about Temperament'' (1902), and ''The Vineyard'' (1904). From 1900, Richards lived and worked at her villa near her parents' home at St Lawrence,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. The villa, now called Craigie Lodge, bears a small commemorative plaque memorializing Richards's time there. An account of her friendship with Father (later Bishop) William Brown, based on volumes of their correspondence, was published by M. F. Brown as ''The Priest and the Playwright'' (Pen Press, 2009).

Death

In 1906, she died suddenly of heart failure in London en route to a holiday in Scotland. She is interred in Kensal Green Cemetery."Steephill Castle, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, the residence of John Morgan Richards, Esq.; a handbook and a history", John B Marsh, privately published by Dangerfield Printing Company, 1907 (Internet Archiv
ark:/13960/t6g168955
There is a memorial plaque to her in the Main Library of

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, where she studied Greek, Latin and English Literature. It was unveiled in July 1908 by

Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...

of Kedleston.

Selected works

Novels

*''Some Emotions and a Moral'' (1891) *''The Sinner's Comedy'' (1892) *''A Study in Temptations'' (1893) *''A Bundle of Life'' (1894) *''The Gods, Some Mortals, and Lord Wickenham'' (1895) *''Some Good Intentions and a Blunder'' (1895) *''The Herb-Moon: A Fantasia'' (1896) *''The School for Saints'' (1897) *''Robert Orange'' (1900) *''The Serious Wooing: A Heart's History'' (1901) *''Love and the Soul Hunters'' (1902) *''The Vineyard'' (1904) *''Flute of Pan: A Romance'' (1904) *''The Dream and the Business'' (1906)

Plays

*''The Ambassador: A Comedy in Four Acts'' (1898) *''Osbern and Ursyne: A Drama in Three Acts'' (1900) *''The Wisdom of the Wise: A Comedy in Three Acts'' (1900) *''The Bishops̕ Move: A Comedy in Three Acts'' (1902)

Essays

*''Imperial India: Letters from the East'' (1903) *''The Artists Life'' (1904) *''The Science of Life'' (1904) *''Letters from a Silent Study'' (1904)

Collections

*''The Tales of John Oliver Hobbes'' (1897), containing ''Some Emotions and a Moral,'' ''A Study in Temptations,'' ''The Sinner's Comedy,'' and ''A Bundle of Life'' *''Tales about Temperaments'' (1902), containing ''The Worm That God Prepared'', Tis An Ill Flight Without Wings'', ''A Repentance: A Drama in One Act'' (1899), ''Price Toto'', and ''Journeys End In Lovers Meeting'' (1894) which was for

. *''Life and To-morrow: Selections from the Writings of John Oliver Hobbes'' (1907), Arranged by Zoë Procter *''The Life of John Oliver Hobbes Told in Her Correspondence with Numerous Friends'' (1911), with John Morgan Richards and Rev. Bishop Welldon

References

Attribution

* *

Bibliography

* J. M. Richards, ''Life of John Oliver Hobbes Told in her Correspondence with Numerous Friends'', (New York, 1911) *

External links

Finding aid to the Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie papers at Columbia University
* *

Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie papers, 1894-1909
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, in the Lincoln Center complex on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York City. Situated between the Metropolitan O ...

Pearl Mary Teresa Richards Craigie papers
Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries,

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...