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Several of Smith’s writings for the London Journal, beginning in 1849, were illustrated by the artist Sir John Gilbert (1817–1897), knighted by Queen Victoria in 1872. These include his historical romance, Stanfield Hall; a domestic novel, Amy Lawrence, the Freemason’s Daughter; and Minnigrey, generally held to be his best work. Frank Jay describes the ‘great… Read more
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Anecdotal evidence suggests that John Frederick Smith was partial to a drop, and indeed his only extant portrait, reprinted here a few weeks back, attests to the possibility. Apparently, he came to the office once a week, sequestered himself in his room with the previous week’s instalment, a bottle of port, and his pipe and… Read more
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Journalist, publisher and bon vivant Henry Vizetelly (1820–1894) dines out on some wonderful anecdotes about J.F. Smith. In one he recounts the author’s move to Cassell’s Family Magazine. This was a new publication of John Cassell’s (1817–1865), who would found the international publishing group Cassell’s. Cassell lured Smith away from the editor of the London Journal,… Read more
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The adage ‘The pen is mightier than the sword’ is universally attributed to Edward Bulwer-Lytton, for a line in his five-act play Richelieu; or the Conspiracy (1839): beneath the rule of men entirely great, the pen is mightier than the sword — for which the play became best known. However, the saying was actually coined… Read more
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Here is a brief and necessarily hazy biographical note on the author John Frederick Smith (1803?–1890). He is himself something of a mystery, despite the immense popularity he enjoyed in his day, being described as ‘England’s most popular novelist of the mid-nineteenth century’ (Oxford Dict. Nat. Biography). [J.F. Smith] had a thousand readers where Dickens… Read more
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