Francis Marion Crawford | |
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| Born | (1854-08-02)August 2, 1854 |
| Died | April 9, 1909(1909-04-09) (aged 54) Villa Crawford,Sant'Agnello |
| Education | St Paul's School |
| Alma mater | Cambridge University University of Heidelberg University of Rome Harvard University |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Berdan (after 1884) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Thomas Crawford Louisa Cutler Ward |
| Relatives | Mary Crawford Fraser (sister) Julia Ward Howe (aunt) |
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Francis Marion Crawford (August 2, 1854 – April 9, 1909)[1] was an American writer noted for his many novels, especially those set in Italy, and for his classic weird and fantastical stories.
Crawford was born inBagni di Lucca, in theGrand Duchy of Tuscany, on August 2, 1854. He was the only son of the American sculptorThomas Crawford and Louisa Cutler Ward. His sister was the writerMary Crawford Fraser (aka Mrs.Hugh Fraser), and he was the nephew ofJulia Ward Howe, the American poet.[2] After his father's death in 1857, his mother remarried to Luther Terry, with whom she had Crawford's half-sister, Margaret Ward Terry, who later became the wife ofWinthrop Astor Chanler.[3]
He studied successively atSt Paul's School,Concord, New Hampshire;Cambridge University;University of Heidelberg; and theUniversity of Rome.[1]
In 1879, he went to India, where he studiedSanskrit and edited inAllahabadThe Indian Herald. Returning to America in February 1881, he continued to study Sanskrit atHarvard University for a year and for two years contributed to various periodicals, mainlyThe Critic.[4] Early in 1882, he established his lifelong close friendship withIsabella Stewart Gardner.[5]
During this period he lived most of the time in Boston at his aunt Julia Ward Howe's house and in the company of his uncle,Sam Ward. His family was concerned about his financial prospects. His mother had hoped he could train in Boston for a career as an operatic baritone based on his private renditions ofSchubert lieder. In January 1882,George Henschel, conductor of theBoston Symphony Orchestra, assessed his prospects and determined Crawford would "never be able to sing in perfect tune". His uncle Sam Ward suggested he try writing about his years in India and helped him develop contacts with New York publishers.[6]
In December 1882, he produced his first novel,Mr Isaacs, a sketch of modern Anglo-Indian life mingled with a touch of Oriental mystery. It had an immediate success, andDr Claudius (1883) followed promptly. In May 1883, he returned to Italy, where he made his permanent home.[4] He lived at the historic Hotel Cocumella in Sorrento during 1885 and settled permanently in Sant'Agnello, where in the fall he bought the Villa Renzi that became Villa Crawford. More than half his novels are set in Italy. He wrote three long historical studies of Italy and was well advanced with a history of Rome in the Middle Ages when he died. This may explain why Marion Crawford's books stand apart from any distinctively American current in literature.[7]
Year by year Crawford published a number of successful novels. However his 1896 novelAdam Johnstone's Son was thought by the late nineteenth century English novelistGeorge Gissing to be "rubbish".[8] Late in the 1890s, Crawford began to write his historical works. These are:Ave Roma Immortalis (1898),Rulers of the South (1900) renamedSouthern Italy and Sicily and The Rulers of the South in 1905 for the American market, andGleanings from Venetian History (1905) with the American titleSalvae Venetia, reissued in 1909 asVenice; the Place and the People. In these, his intimate knowledge of local Italian history combines with the romanticist's imaginative faculty to excellent effect.[4] His shorter bookConstantinople (1895) belongs to this category.
After most of his fictional works had been published, most came to think he was a gifted narrator; and his books of fiction, full of historic vitality and dramatic characterization, became widely popular among readers to whom the realism of problems or the eccentricities of subjective analysis were repellent.[4] InThe Novel: What It Is (1893), he defended his literary approach, self-conceived as a combination of romanticism and realism, defining the art form in terms of its marketplace and audience. The novel, he wrote, is "a marketable commodity" and "intellectual artistic luxury" (8, 9) that "must amuse, indeed, but should amuse reasonably, from an intellectual point of view. . . . Its intention is to amuse and please, and certainly not to teach and preach; but in order to amuse well it must be a finely-balanced creation. . . ." (82).
TheSaracinesca series is perhaps known to be his best work, with the third in the series,Don Orsino (1892) set against the background of a real estate bubble, told with effective concision. The second volume isSant' Ilario [Hilary] (1889). A fourth book in the series,Corleone (1897), was the first major treatment ofthe Mafia in literature, and used the now-familiar but then-original device of a priest unable to testify to a crime because of theSeal of the Confessional; the novel is not one of his major works, having failed to live up to the standard set by the books earlier in the series. Crawford endedRulers of the South (1900) with a chapter about theSicilian Mafia.
Crawford himself was fondest ofKhaled: A Tale of Arabia (1891), a story of agenie (genius is Crawford's word) who becomes human, which was reprinted (1971) in theBallantine Adult Fantasy series of the early 1970s.A Cigarette-Maker's Romance (1890) was dramatized, and had considerable popularity on the stage as well as in its novel form; and in 1902 an original play from his pen,Francesca da Rimini, was produced in Paris by his friendSarah Bernhardt. Crawford's best known dramatization was that ofThe White Sister (1909). Its main actress wasViola Allen, whose first film was the1915 film of this novel; it was filmed again in1923 and1933.In the Palace of the King (1900) was filmed in 1915 and1923;Mr. Isaacs (1882) was filmed in 1931 asSon of India.
Several of his short stories, such as "The Upper Berth" (1886; written in 1885), "For the Blood Is the Life" (1905, a vampiress tale), "The Dead Smile" (1899), and "The Screaming Skull" (1908), are often-anthologized classics of the horror genre. An essay on Crawford's weird tales can be found inS. T. Joshi'sThe Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004); there are many other essays and introductions. The collected weird stories were posthumously published in 1911 asWandering Ghosts in the U.S. and asUncanny Tales in the UK, both without the long-forgotten "The King's Messenger" (1907). The present definitive edition is that edited byRichard Dalby asUncanny Tales and published by theTartarus Press (1997; 2008). Crawford's novellaMan Overboard! (1903) is often overlooked, but belongs with his supernatural works.
In 1901, theAmerican Macmillan firm began a deluxe uniform edition of his novels, as reprintings required. In 1904 the P. F. Collier Co. (N. Y.) was authorized to publish a 25-volume edition, later increased to 32 volumes. Around 1914 the subscription firm McKinlay, Stone, Mackenzie was authorized to publish an edition using the Macmillan binding decorations. In 1919 the American Macmillan firm published the "Sorrento Edition". They also had issued some first American editions and reprints in a uniform binding from 1891 through 1899. TheBritish Macmillan firm used two separate uniform bindings from 1889 until after 1910.
Crawford wrote numerous articles for major periodicals and a few contributions to books. See the section "Bibliographical History" inAn F. Marion Crawford Companion (1981) by John C. Moran.
In 1880, Crawford converted toRoman Catholicism.[9] In October 1884 he married Elizabeth Berdan, the daughter of theAmerican Civil War Union GeneralHiram Berdan.[7] They had two sons and two daughters, Eleanor, Harold, Clara and Bertram.[10]
Crawford died atSorrento on Good Friday 1909 at Villa Crawford of a heart attack.[11][12][1] It was the result of a severe lung injury ten years previous, caused by inhalation of toxic gases at a glass-smelting works in Colorado, which happened during his American lecture tour in the winter of 1897–1898. He was gathering technical information for his historical novelMarietta (1901), that describes glass-making in late medieval Venice. After his death, his widow sued for breach of contract related to the production of Crawford's novels into a film.[13]
In his 1929 article "Some Remarks on Ghost Stories"M. R. James praised Crawford's supernatural fiction. James stated that "Marion Crawford and his horrid story of 'The Upper Berth', which (with 'The Screaming Skull' some distance behind) is the best in his collection ofUncanny Tales, and stands high among ghost stories in general."[14]H. Russell Wakefield, in an essay on ghost stories, called Crawford's "The Upper Berth" "the very best one" of such stories.[15]Norman Douglas credits Crawford's financial success as instrumental in encouraging himself to write (though he remained critical of Crawford's habit of inserting first-person editorial comments into his fiction).[16]
The F. Marion Crawford Memorial Society was founded in 1975 and published the literary reviewThe Romantist from 1977 until 1997.In 1997 the Centro Studi e Ricerche Francis Marion Crawford was founded atSant'Agnello di Sorrento. It is formally associated with the FMC Memorial Society and continuesThe Romantist in its annual reviewGenius Loci (1997–).
In early May 1988 at Sant'Agnello, a Conference was held to commemorate Crawford. It was organized by the Comune di Sant' Agnello di Sorrento and the Istituto Universitario Orientale (Naples). Its "Acta" were published in English and Italian asIl Magnifico Crawford. Scrittore per Mestiere /The Magnificent Crawford. Writer by Trade (1990), edited by Gordon Poole. In mid-May 2009 the Centro Studi e Ricerche Francis Marion Crawford and the Comune di Sant' Agnello organized another Conference –Francis Marion Crawford; 100 Anni Dopo – to remember Crawford on the centenary of his death. Its "Acta" were published in Italian and English asNuova Luce Su Francis Marion Crawford. Cento Anni Dopo 2009-1909 /A Hundred Years Later: New Light on Francis Marion Crawford early in 2011, edited by Gordon Poole. The F. Marion Crawford Memorial Society collaborated in the organization of both Conferences.
There is a major street in the Italian town ofSant'Agnello di Sorrento (the town where he died) named after him, theCorso Marion Crawford. There is a historical marker on the house where Crawford was born, in Bagni di Lucca. Villa Crawford was donated many years ago by Crawford's daughters Lady Eleanor Rocca-Crawford and Mother Clare Marion-Crawford to theSalesian Sisters, who operate it today as a high school for girls.[17]
InSan Nicola Arcella, in the province ofCosenza, the Saracen tower where Francis Marion Crawford stayed in the summer is remembered as Torre Crawford. In 2020, the writerAndrea Carlo Cappi with Matteo Fazzolari and Cosimo Gentile, created the literary prize for short story "Torre Crawford", whose annual theme is taken from a short story by Francis Marion Crawford (the theme of the first edition was "For the blood is the life ").[18]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Crawford, Francis Marion".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 386.
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