Samuel Marchbanks is a fictional character who wrote

editorials An editorial, or leading article (UK) or leader (UK), is an article or any other written document, often unsigned, written by the senior editorial people or publisher of a newspaper or magazine, that expresses the publication's opinion about ...

for the ''

Peterborough Examiner ''The Peterborough Examiner'' is a newspaper that services Peterborough, Ontario and area. The paper started circulation in 1847, and is currently owned by Torstar and operated by its Metroland division. Between 1942 and 1955, it was edited by C ...

'' newspaper in the small city of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, northeast of

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, during the middle of the 20th century. Marchbanks was, in fact, a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

used by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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 ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...

during his tenure as

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

of the newspaper. Marchbanks is described as witty, cantankerous, and determinedly individualistic. Three books of Marchbanks' writings have been published, supposedly with Davies as editor. The

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...

al pretence of there being two separate individuals spills over into the footnotes, where disagreements between Marchbanks and Davies are evident. The Marchbanks books include ''

The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (published in 1947), ''

The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks ''The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks'' is a book by Canadian novelist and journalist Robertson Davies, published by Clarke Irwin in 1949. It is the second of the Samuel Marchbanks books following the 1947 ''The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks''. His ...

'' (published in 1949), and ''

Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack ''Samuel Marchbanks' Almanack'' is a book published by McClelland and Stewart in 1967. It is the third and last of the Samuel Marchbanks books by Canadian novelist and journalist Robertson Davies. It follows ''The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks'' and ...

'' (published in 1967). In 1985 an omnibus of the three previous Marchbanks books, ''

The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks ''The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks'', published by Irwin in 1985, constitutes a collection of the writings of Samuel Marchbanks, a character created in 1944 by Canadian novelist and journalist Robertson Davies when he was editor of the ''Peter ...

'', was published with new notes by the author, or more correctly, by the editor (Davies).

References

Fictional newspaper editors Fictional writers {{fict-char-stub