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“Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.”The Lacon, Charles Caleb Coltar (1780-1832)

Where do authors get their story ideas?

Jules Verne (1828-1905) is often cited as the“father of science fiction,” a distinctionsometimes shared by H.G. Wells (1866-1946). Biographers and scholars of Vernehave pointed out that he was not the firstperson to describe voyages to the moon ortravel under the sea aboard a submarine.However, his stories were the first to achieveinternational acclaim and popularity. Thissame popularity served to popularize theideas within the books as well.

Verne’s “Vingt milles lieues sous les mers”was f i rs t publ ished in the Magasind’education et de recreation as a magazineserial (20 Mar 1869 - 20 Jun 1870). It waspublished in two volumes within Verne’sVoyages Extraordinares in 1870 and 1871.

The story was translated by Lewis Mercierand published in England and the UnitedStates in late-November 1872. The date onthe title pages for these editions was 1873. Itwas one of several stories which became theinspiration to science fiction writers, in-cluding Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863;1869), Journey to the Centre of the Earth(1864; 1874), From the Earth to the Moon(1865, 1870; 1874), and Around the Worldin Eighty Days (1873; 1873).

So successful were these stories, that theymade a permanent mark on the genre. Forexample, few authors could write about asubmarine voyage without closely parallel-ing Verne’s Twenty Thousand LeaguesUnder the Seas (George M. Smith, 1873),even down to the obligatory giant squid at-tack. Some of these imitat ions wereembarrassingly close to Verne’s story aboutCaptain Nemo’s Nautilus.

Jules Verne, Bracebridge Hemyng, AND Edward Stratemeyer:A Case of Nineteenth-Century Plagiarism

©1995 by James D. Keeline

[Jules Verne (1828-1905), age 25] [First American edition of Twenty Thousand LeaguesUnder the Seas (George M. Smith, 1873)]

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One early example of this type of imitationwas written by Bracebridge Hemyng (1841-1901), “Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegraceat Sea,” which was published in serial formin Young Men of Great Britain (260-?:1873)by Edwin J. Brett. It was immediately pi-rated in Boys of America (6-12: Feb 1874 -Aug 1874), a magazine published by FrankLeslie (1821-1880) that was closely pat-terned after Brett’s Boys of England, inwhich most of Hemyng’s stories first ap-peared. American and British copies ofTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seashave been seen with 1872 inscriptions. Thuswhen the Dick Lightheart story began toappear in 1873, it followed the English-language publication of Verne’s story bymere months.

The Hemyng story was reprinted severaltimes including a version without illustra-tions in Frank Tousey’s Five Cent WideAwake Library (85-86: 22 Mar 1879 - 24Mar 1879; 1257-1258: 6 Mar 1896 - 13 Mar1896). It was published in book form in asThe Scapegrace at Sea. The British versionwas advertised in Boys of England (11 Jul1874). It was published in the United Statesby the American News Company.

The Dick Lightheart story, like many ofHemyng’s popular Jack Harkaway stories, ispart of a continuing narrative with only theslightest amount of transitional text to con-nect one story to the next. Thus, littleexplanation is given, initially, about howDick Lightheart, his chum, Harry Messiter,and servant, Teddy are on Captain Simpson’sship, the Indiana. However, we soon learnthat they were picked up and the Captain andhis officers intend to impress Dick Lightheartand his friends into maritime service. Tothis, Dick resists in his usual fashion. Hewins a fight against one member of the crewand earns their respect. In a later incident,Dick stops the captain from flogging one ofthe regular crew. Captain Simpson turns hisrage towards our hero. When he plans toflog Dick Lightheart, the crew intercedes onhis behalf.

As this incident concludes, a strange sail isspotted on the horizon. This turns out to bethe remains of a vessel with its only survi-vor, Professor Crawley Crab, who is the“Secretary to the Society for Exploration ofthe Unknown Parts of the World.” He de-mands food and fresh clothing while he tellshow his ship, the General Johnstone, was

[Bracebridge Hemyng (1841-1901)] ["Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegrace at Sea"Frank Leslie's Boys of America (#6, Feb 1874)]

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destroyed by a sea monster. Naturally, thisconversation does not go unnoticed by thecrew. When the monster appears, none ofthe crew, save our heroes, will go in thesmall boat with Professor Crab to attempt toharpoon it. Harry Messiter takes the place ofVerne’s Ned Land as harpoonist, althoughthis role is merely perfunctory. DickLightheart’s other companion, Teddy, whois analogous to Professor Arronax’s servent,Conseil, seems to be present solely to com-plain and state “I know I’m only an odd boybut I’ve got feelings” every few dozen para-graphs.

From this point, Hemyng’s story simply liftsthe adventure elements of Verne’s story,while adding some dime novel plot formu-las. The monster attacks and sinks theIndiana. Professor Crab and our heroes areknocked out of their small boat into thewater. They eventually regroup on the backof the sea monster which has iron plates andrivets hewn by hand. They soon realize thatthis is a man-made submarine boat. Figur-ing the occupants to be pirates, they areuncertain as to whether they should alert theattention of the men in the vessel. However,

a quick survey of the situation suggests thatthey have little choice. If the craft were tosubmerge, they would surely drown. Al-though they try to kick the plate with theirfeet, there is no response from the occupantsof the submarine. After several hours ofuncertainty, a hatch opens and an unseenperson from the submarine drags in eachmember of the party, one at a time. They arelocked in a small room.

After a long delay, they are fed upon dinnerplates with a large letter “N” and the motto“Dead to the World” inscribed upon them.In time they meet the captain who listens totheir story repeated in several languageswithout response. Only on a later visit doesCaptain Nemo reveal that he speaks Englishas well as the other languages used. Heexplains that the survivors of the shipwreckcan never be released, thus the submarineEnigma will become their prison.

Captain Nemo of the Hemyng story, like hisVerne counterpart, is as enigmatic as thename of his vessel. He also experiences thesame manic-depressive mood swings char-acterized by the captain of the Nautilus. In

["Dick Lightheart at Sea" by Bracebridge HemyngFive Cent Wide Awake Library (#1257, 6 Mar 1896)]

["Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegrace at Sea"Frank Leslie's Boys of America (#6, Feb 1874), p. 85.]

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Verne’s story, the motto on the dinner plateis “Mobilis in Mobili” (“movable in a mov-able element”). The crew of the Enigmauses special rifles to hunt and kill underseagame. Although these are not described inthe same detail as the ones in Verne’s story,they are clearly the same devices. Bothstories include an underwater burial; thecaptives attempted escape on to an islandwhich is filled with cannibals who are re-pelled by electricity; and an excursion into aoyster bed with a giant pearl in a placeknown only to Captain Nemo. There is evena trip through a submarine tunnel betweenthe Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea inboth versions. The Enigma is also trapped inice near the South Pole for a time. Of course,no submarine story would be complete with-out an attack by a giant squid or octopus.

As previously stated, this story contains allof the adventure elements of the Verne nar-rative in a shameless plagiarization. Thereis also a subtext added about why Hemyng’sCaptain Nemo has abandoned the civilizedworld. As a soldier for the South in theAmerican Civil War, his fiancée was con-vinced of his death by another suitor. Sheeventually marries him and leads an un-happy existence on his ship, the Belle of NewOrleans. Nemo, whose real name is HaroldDuggard, has sworn vengance and sinks sev-eral ships throughout the course of the story.Strangely, none of the prisoners, save DickLightheart, notice each time the Enigma col-lides with and sinks a ship. The last portionof the story describes their escape and res-cue by Captain Crawley (Hemyng must havebeen fond of this name) Vipond of the Belleof New Orleans, Duggard’s target. Theyalso meet the object of Duggard’s misery,Adele. Dick Lightheart warns CaptainVipond about Duggard which makes him anervous man indeed. In fact, only becausethe machinery broke on the Enigma did theyhave the slightest reprieve. The remainingchapters describe how Dick Lightheart andhis friends are landed in Africa, presumablyleading to the next story, “Dick LightheartAround the World.”

To simply summarize “Dick Lightheart atSea” reveals how this story was based on abare-bones version of the Verne story with

Hemyng’s style of characterizations. TheHemyng version also includes several ex-amples of pronounced racism. When thegroup tries to escape, they kill one of Cap-tain Nemo’s crew, one of Duggard’s formerslaves, who speaks in dialect. WhenLightheart learns what they have done, Teddyreplies “it was only a nigger.”

As was typical in the dime novel industry,this story was itself stolen by another writer.The theft in this case is nearly word for wordwith the only changes being the characterand vessel names. The beginning and end-ing of this story are different and thecharacterizations softened but the essentialelements are identical to the Hemyng storyalready stolen from Verne.

This story was published in Young Sports ofAmerica (10 Aug 1895 - 14 Sep 1895) as“The Wizard of the Deep; or, the Search forthe Million Dollar Pearl” by “TheodoreEdison.” The story was published in hard-cover as The Wizard of the Sea by theMershon Company in 1900. It was reprintedby Chatterton-Peck around 1907 and laterby A.L. Burt. The hardcover editions werepublished using the “Roy Rockwood” pseud-onym.

Roy Rockwood was one of the principalpseudonyms used by Edward Stratemeyer(1862-1930) and his Stratemeyer Syndicate,an organization established around 1904 or1905 which hired writers to complete manu-scripts based upon story outlines created byStratemeyer. Through this organization,Stratemeyer created some of the most popu-lar series of novels for children includingthe Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, the HardyBoys, and Nancy Drew.

Edward Stratemeyer was born in Elizabeth,New Jersey on 4 October 1862. As a boy heread the dime novels and story papers avail-able at the time. The authors who wrote forthese publications were William T. Adams(1822-1897) (as Oliver Optic), Horatio AlgerJr. (1834-1899), Charles A. Fosdick (1842-1915) (as Harry Castlemon), James OtisKaler (1848-1912) (as James Otis), and manyothers.

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In early interviews, Stratemeyer remarkedhow he aspired to write like Horatio Alger,what he did not reveal was that for severalyears since Alger’s death, he had written asAlger as well. Stratemeyer wrote elevenAlger “completions” which were suppos-edly based upon notes left by Alger.Although the first one or two of these storiesmay have been composed in this fashion, thelater vo lumes seem to be whol lyStratemeyer’s work. Stratemeyer also wroteone volume as “Ol iver Opt ic” whenWilliam T. Adams died before completingthe Blue and Grey series, published byLee & Shepard, as planned.

One story about Stratemeyer told how hereceived a small toy printing press as a boyupon which he would print poetry and shortstories to give to friends and family. Whenhe was twenty, he tried to start his own storypaper, Our American Boys, which appar-ently had only a single issue in January1883. The surviving copy, held by the Uni-versity of Oregon at Eugene, is arranged asa quarto with eight pages of text and noillustrations. The departments and stories inthis first issue were probably written en-tirely by him. Some of the advertisementsoffer typesetting services.

A few years later, in 1889, Stratemeyer soldhis first story, “Victor Horton’s Idea” toGolden Days for $75. Upon hearing theamount they paid, his father, Henry JuliusStratemeyer, assented the Edward shouldwrite more of these stories. Stratemeyercertainly seemed to take this advice to heart.He wrote many stories that were publishedas dime novels and were serialized in storypapers of the time.

By 1893, he was working as the editor ofGood News, a Street & Smith publication,contributing many of the stories publishedduring his reign in the editor’s chair. Herehe learned many of the writing, editing, andpublishing techniques that would be used inhis Stratemeyer Syndicate a decade later.For example, writers were expected to de-velop a story of a given length in a short timeperiod after being given only a title and thebasics of the characters and plot. For this,the writer would be paid a flat sum in ex-change for all rights to the story. Thepublishers would risk that the story sold andreap the rewards if it sold well.

In fact, it was a common practice to have agiven story published many times over a

[The Wizard of the Sea by Roy Rockwood] [Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930)]

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number of years. Thus, if a writer or groupof writers contributing to a dime novel seriesneeded a break from their frenetic pace,older stories would be inserted into the pub-lishing schedule, sometimes with differenttitles. As you can imagine, this causes manyproblems for the bibliographers of this typeof literature.

Another common practice, especially before1891, was to steal stories from England,Germany, and France and publish them herein the United States, in English. The inter-national copyright agreement that CharlesDickens (1812-1870) fought for during mostof his later life for would not appear untiltwenty years after his death. Thus, pre-1891historical novels by G.A. Henty (1832-1902)were routinely pirated by American bookpublishers.

In a similar fashion, Frank Leslie’s Boys ofAmerica would contain essentially the samematerial as Edwin J. Brett’s Boys of En-gland after a short delay. At one pointaround 1873, Leslie persuaded BracebridgeHemyng to move to the United States andwrite exclusively for him. However, “DickLightheart; or, the Scapegrace at Sea” whichhad its first installment in Boys of AmericaFebruary 1874 was originally published inYoung Men of Great Britain (issue 260-?:1873), another Edwin J. Brett paper.

Since Hemyng was perceived as being aBritish writer and most of his stories werestolen from their naitive England, it is notvery surprising that publishers, like FrankTousey, reprinted “Dick Lightheart at Sea”in 1896. This theft of literary property wentin both directions. Samuel L. Clemens (1835-1910) (Mark Twain) often had his storiespublished first in England to secure non-citizen copyright and prevent piracy of hisstories as fast as the pages could be printedhere in the United States.

Most of the dime novels and many of thestory papers had weekly publication sched-ules. The demands of the publishing schedulerequired writers to compose stories of ap-proximately 60,000 words in a short lengthof time. If an author was a fast enoughwriter, he could provide nearly all of the

stories in a given dime novel series. Anexample of this is (William) Gilbert Patten(1866-1945) who wrote sports, school, andtravel stories about Frank Merriwell andfamily for Street & Smith’s Tip Top Weeklyas “Burt L. Standish.”

Many of the writers for these publicationswere also voracious readers both of fictionin the genre and of newspapers. In fact, itwas very common for a writer of dime nov-els and story papers to write for newspapersas well. A common practice of fiction writ-ers was to take a popular news story andfictionalize it with only the slightest embel-lishment. In some cases, a writer simplylifted the description in a news story andinserted it into their story.

For example, Edward Stratemeyer wrotedime novel stories for the New York FiveCent Library (published by Street & Smith)about a boxer, Gentleman Jack (betweenNov 1892 and Nov 1893), who was largelybased on Gentleman Jim Corbett, a boxerwith a short term of fame. An eminentStratemeyer scholar, Dr. Deidre Johnson,has recently uncovered evidence that de-scriptions of the fights were simply liftedfrom local newspaper accounts. Stratem-eyer also wrote several boxing stories forYoung Sports of America (1895), some ofwhich are about Gentleman Jim Corbett.

In another example, a forthcoming article inthe Dime Novel Round-Up will outline aSamuel Hopkins Adams (1871-1958) novelplagiarized by Gilbert Patten (1866-1945).

Weldon J. Cobb, a Chicago newspaperman,real estate agent, and dime novel authorsimply rewrote a newspaper version of H.G.Wells’ War of The Worlds (Pearson’s Maga-zine, 1897; Heinemann, 1898) in a story thatbecame “At War With Mars” (GoldenHours, Sep-Nov 1897). One of Cobb’s newelements when he stole the story was theMartian attack on the U.S., rather than En-gland. Cobb wrote several other stories withMars as a theme. In 1905, Cobb began towrite for the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Hewrote early volumes in the Dave Fearlessseries, Boys of Business series, and Ralphof the Railroad series.

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Edward Stratemeyer tended to use certainpseudonyms to identify his personal writingand other names for stories which he ownedas a literary agent. Thus, stories he wrotewere published under his own name, and“Captain Ralph Bonehill” and “Arthur M.Winfield” while stories he purchased fromother writers, when published in hardcover,might use names like “Roy Rockwood” or“Allen Chapman.” Obviously, there wereseveral early stories written by Stratemeyerpublished under the Chapman and Rockwoodnames, however, these names are usuallyassociated with hardcover series books whichwere contracted “works for hire” from hisSyndicate.

An observant reader can learn to detect thestyle of a given writer and note their choiceof spelling, favorite character names andadverbs and phrases. One scholar, Dr. JohnT. Dizer Jr., who has spent most of his lifereading works by Stratemeyer and his Syn-dicate has suggested that “The Wizard of theDeep” (Young Sports of America, #11-16:10 Aug 1895 - 14 Sep 1895) and its hard-cover cousin, The Wizard of the Sea(Mershon, 1900), does not appear to beStratemeyer’s writing. “Were it not forStratemeyer’s known connection with YoungSports of America and the ‘Rockwood’ name,it would be difficult to identify this book ashis writing” (Tom Swift & Co., p. 135).Curiously, the story was not listed amongtitles that were transferred from Frank J.Earll, the publisher of Young Sports ofAmerica, to Stratemeyer in 1896. Neverthe-less, Stratemeyer owned the story and mustassume some of the responsibility for thisplagiarism. Now it seems clear that theunpaid writer of this story was BracebridgeHemyng.

There is no evidence to suggest that Strate-meyer read Twenty Thousand LeaguesUnder the Seas (George M. Hill, 1873),although it would have been published whenhe was eleven years old. However, the Vernestory was not widely adopted as a juvenilestory until later. It is also unclear if he read“Dick Lightheart at Sea” as a boy. Howevera brief comparison between the Hemyng andthe Rockwood stories quickly shows thatwhoever composed the Wizard of the Sea

had a copy of “Dick Lightheart at Sea” inhand.

[On the following slides from The Wizard ofthe Sea, Stratemeyer’s own writing is high-lighted in orange.]

The first six and one-half chapters (38 pages)of The Wizard of the Sea are essentially areprint of a story Stratemeyer published inBright Days, a story paper that he ownedand edited, called “The Schoolboy Cadets;or, Fun and Mystery at Washington Hall”(Bright Days, #6-10: 5 Sep 1896 - 3 Oct1896) under the Roy Rockwood pseudonym.As the title implies, this short story is aboutseveral boys who attend a small militaryacademy. A few years later, Stratemeyerwould create his Rover Boys series (1899-1926) of school stories under his Arthur M.Winfield personal pseudonym.

After an abrupt transition at the beginning ofpage 39, the story begins to merge with theHemyng story. [On this page, text not high-lighted was taken direct from Hemyngword-for-word.] The main character, MontFolsom, his chum Carl Barnaby, and servantJohn “Stump” Stumpton were on a smallboat that was run down by an outgoing ship.This ship picks them up but is unwilling todrop them off at any port.

Since this book is a direct copy of the Hemyngstory, each character in the Hemyng storyhas a corresponding character in theRockwood version. Thus, Dick Lightheartbecomes Mont Folsom, Harry Messiter be-comes Carl Barnaby, and Teddy becomesStump. Similarly, the ship that picks themup is called the Indiana run by CaptainSimpson in the Hemyng story while in theRockwood story it is Captain Savage and theComet.

After the flogging incident, Doctor HomerWoodle, who is also the “Secretary to theSociety for Exploration of the Unknown Partsof the World,” appears; just like ProfessorCrawley Crab in the Hemyng story. In theRockwood story, Captain Nemo is replacedby Captain Vindex and the submarine iscalled the Searcher rather than the Enigmaor the Nautilus.

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[The Wizard of the Sea (1900), p. 44-47. Highlighted text was new or changed material writtenpresumably by Stratemeyer. Text not highlighted was copied directly from the Hemyng story.]

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The Rockwood story is considerably stream-lined from the Hemyng. The Civil Warsubplot is absent. For this reason, there is nomention made of the motto or emblem on thedinner plates. Stump has fewer scenes wherehe complains “I know I’m only an odd boybut....”

Most of the major events described in theHemyng story are included in the Rockwoodversion. After the Searcher emerges fromthe submarine tunnel into the MediterraneanSea, our heroes plan their escape. Whenthey are off the coast of Cyprus, an explo-sion destroys the Searcher and everyoneaboard is presumed dead. Our heroes returnto civilization aboard a small boat.

How much of Wizard of the Sea was writ-ten by Stratemeyer?

With the exception of the first 38 pages,which is a retelling of “The School BoyCadets” and some pages before and after theHemyng story, only about 1% of the materialin the Rockwood story was added or changedby Stratemeyer.

The nature of the changes is interesting andserves to illustrate Stratemeyer’s probableauthorship of them. For example, Stratem-eyer restructured many of Hemyng’s short,single-sentence paragraphs into complexsentences and longer paragraphs with theaddition of simple conjunctions. He alsorestructures the story into chapters with cliffhanger endings. Most of Stratemeyer’s textappears at the beginning or ending of a chap-ter. [Some pages had no new material byStratemeyer.] Stratemeyer only used ap-proximately 75% of the submarine portionof the Hemyng story, in turn stolen fromJules Verne. Stratemeyer’s version sticks tothe adventure elements and reads quickly.

[On the next few sl ides, f rom “DickLightheart at Sea, the text copied by Strate-meyer is highlighted in pink.]

Stratemeyer changed textual referenceswhich were specifically British to ones withwhichAmerican readers could relate. A men-t ion of the Crystal Palace in London(Hemyng 16) was changed to Coney Island

(Rockwood 157). Captain Nemo who “ap-peared to be an Englishman” in Hemyng’sstory (Hemyng 7) became Captain Vindex,an “American” (Rockwood 81). “Americanoysters stewed in whale’s milk” (Hemyng 9)are described as simply “oysters stewed inwhale’s milk” (Rockwood 96).

At one point in the story, the characters aremarvelling about the progress of technol-ogy:

“... He has invented a singular ship whichcan go under the sea at will, but why not?Was not the invention of steam engineslaughed at, as well as the invention ofgas? Who, a hundred years ago, wouldhave believed in the electric telegraph,by means of which we can send a mes-sage to the end of the earth in a minute?”(Hemyng 9)

To the above, Stratemeyer adds:

“Very true,” replied Mont. “And don’tforget the telephone, and the submarineboat the government is trying to build.”(Rockwood 96)

This addition was part of Stratemeyer’s at-tempt to br ing Hemyng’s 1873 storyup-to-date. Stratemeyer’s version was firstpublished in 1895. In that same year, SimonLake (1866-1945) and John Philip Holland(1840-1914) were competing in a U.S. gov-ernment competition to develop a submarineboat for the U.S. Navy. Holland’s designand prototype was purchased.

A few years later, Stratemeyer wrote “Hol-land the Destroyer; or, America against theworld” (Golden Hours 669-676: 24 Nov1900 - 12 Jan 1901) by Hal Harkaway, apseudonym similar to Bracebridge Hemyng’smain character, Jack Harkaway. The storywas reprinted in hardcover as The YoungNaval Captain; or, the War of all Nations(Thompson & Thomas, 1902) and as Oscarthe Naval Cadet; or, Under the Sea(M.A. Donohue, circa 1915). In the story, ayoung inventor builds a revolutionary newsubmarine, called the Holland X, since it isthe tenth submarine in the United States’fleet.

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[A page from "Dick Lightheart at Sea" showing the material copied in Wizard of the Sea.]

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In The Wizard of the Sea, Stratemeyer re-moved or changed any references inHemyng’s story to alcohol or games whichmight be used for gambling. In Hemyng’sversion, the prisoner’s first meal included:“no bread and wine, but a bottle of watersuppl ied i ts p lace.” (Hemyng 8)Stratemeyer’s characters had “no bread, tea,or coffee ....” When Dick Lightheart has aprivate meeting with Captain Nemo, he of-fers to play “dominoes or crib” (Hemyng 10)with the captain. This is changed to “domi-noes or checkers” (Rockwood 100) byStratemeyer. Later in the book, Hemyngsays that the prisoners played “cards, orsome game they liked” (Hemyng 19) whileStratemeyer uses “checkers, dominoes, orsome game they liked” (Rockwood 183).Stratemeyer clearly felt that checkers ordominoes was more gentiel than cards orcribbage.

Finally, Stratemeyer uses the phrase “ourhero” in place of Mont Folsom’s name. Thisphrase is not used by Hemyng. Likewise, heuses “the Wizard of the Sea” on severaloccasions when the Hemyng story simplymentions “the captain” or “Captain Nemo.”Aside from the above changes, Stratemeyer’sstory is a directo copy of Hemyng’s.

In contrast, Hemyng’s story does not con-tain a word-for-word plagiarism of the Vernetext. The appearance of the story in 1873leaves two possibilities: either Hemyng readthe 1870 French-language text and copied it,or he had more creativity in his plagiarismwhen he copied the English translation ofTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.

Stratemeyer was not the first to stealHemyng’s story. It was stolen first by FrankLeslie for his Boys of America (1874) fromEdwin J. Brett’s Young Men of GreatBrittain (1873). Once in the United States,it was stolen by Frank Tousey for his FiveCent Wide Awake Library where it was pub-lished twice (1879, 1896). Stratemeyer’sversion appeared in 1895, after FrankTousey’s 1879 reprint.

As previously stated, Hemyng’s story usesthe essential adventure elements from theVerne or ig inal . St ratemeyer copiedHemyng’s story directly, changing only thenames of characters, vessels, and locations.

For example, in Verne, the Nautilus merelypasses the island of “Vanikoro ... the islandson which La Perouse had been lost” (ch.XVIII). In Hemyng “Vanikova” becomesthe name of the island where the party landsand is chased by savages. In Verne, thelanding takes place on the island of Gilboain chapter XX. In Stratemeyer’s version, theisland is called “Malonon” and the Frenchexplorer is “Posterri.”

The textual comparison on the last page [ofthe paper] illustrates the similarities anddifferences between these editions.

Perhaps it is fitting to close with the follow-ing quote by John Milton (1608-1674):

“For such kind of borrowing as this, if it benot bettered by the borrower, among goodauthors is accounted plagiary.”

(Iconoclastes, ch. 23)

†In Verne, Prof. Arronax is the main character. In the Hemyng/Stratemeyer version he is charicatured as the know-it-all character. Arronaxbecomes the friend of Capt. Nemo, while the main character befriends the captain of the other versions.

Title:

Author:

First Publication:Name of Submarine:Submarine Captain:Main Character†:Main Character’s Servant:Secondary Character:Know-it-all Character:Ship sunk by submarine:Captain of Ship:

“The Wizard of the Deep; or, InSearch of the $1,000,000Pearl”

Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930)

1895SearcherCapt. VindexMont FolsomJohn “Stump” StumptonCarl BarnabyDr. Homer WoodleGolden CrossCapt. Savage

“Dick Lightheart; or, theScapegrace at Sea”

Bracebridge Hemyng (1841-1901)

1873EnigmaCapt. Nemo (Harold Duggard)Dick LightheartTeddyHarry MessiterProf. Crawley CrabIndianaCapt. Simpson

Twenty Thousand Leagues Underthe Seas.

Jules Verne (1828-1905)

French, 1869; English 1872NautilusCapt. NemoProf. Pierre ArronaxConsielNed Land(see main character)Abraham LincolnAdmiral Farragut

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Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas(George M. Smith, 1873):

How long I remained buried in thisdrowsiness, I cannot judge; but when Iwoke, the sun seemed sinking towards thehorizon. Captain Nemo had already risen,and I was beginning to stretch my limbs,when an unexpected apparition broughtme briskly to my feet.

A few steps off, a monstrous sea-spider,about thirty-eight inches high, was watch-ing me with squinting eyes, ready to springupon me. Though my diver’s dress wasthick enough to defend me from the bite ofthis animal, I could not help shudderingwith horror. Conseil and the sailor of theNautilus awoke at this moment. CaptainNemo pointed out the hideous crustacean,which a blow from the butt end of the gunknocked over, and I saw the horrible clawsof the monster writhe in terrible convul-sions. This accident reminded me thatother animals more to be feared mighthaunt these obscure depths, aginst whoseattacks my diving-dress would not protectme. I had never thought of this before, butI now resolved to be upon my guardd.Indeed, I thought that this halt would markthe termination of our walk; but I wasmistaken, for, instead of returning to theNautilus, Captain Nemo continued his boldexcursion. The ground was still on theincline, its declivity seemed to be greater,and to be leading us to greater depths. Itmust have been about three o’clock whenwe reached a narrow valley, between highperpendicular walls, situated about sev-enty-five fathoms deep. Thanks to theperfection of our apparatus, we were forty-five fathoms below the limit which natureseems to have imposed on man as to hissubmarine excursions.

I say seventy-five fathoms, though I hadno instrument by which to judge the dis-tance. But I knew that even in the clearestwaters, the solar rays could not penetratefurther. And accordingly the darkness deep-ened. At ten paces not an object wasvisible. I was groping my way, when Isuddenly saw a brilliant white light. Cap-tain Nemo had just put his electric apparatusinto use; his companion did the same, andConseil and I followed their example.

(XVI “A Submarine Forest”, p. 91)

“Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegrace atSea” Boys of America #6-12 (Feb 1874 -Aug 1874):

They had not proceeded far through thisdense jungle of weeds, amongst which itwas difficult to pick a path, when the cap-tain halted.

In front of him was a huge sea spider,over three feet in height, with long terribleclaws, and a scaly back like a crawfish.

It endeavoured to seize the professor,who, sinking upon his knees, presented hishead to it as the least vulnerable part of hisbody.

The captain, however, clubbed his gun,and, with one blow of the butt, broke itsback and left it convulsed in its dyingagonies.

As they continued to descend into avalley, bounded on each side by high rocks,the darkness increased, for the sun's rayscould not penetrate more than a hundredand fifty yards.

It was now that the electric lamps be-came of importance.

As they got lower and lower, Dick felt anoppression about the head, and a greatdesire to sleep overcame him.

He lagged behind the others, and withdifficulty kept up with them.

(IX “Lost in the Ocean Wilds”, p. 94)

The Wizard of the Sea; or, a Trip Underthe Ocean (Mershon, 1900):

They had not proceeded far through thisdense jungle of weeds, amongst which itwas difficult to pick a path, when the cap-tain halted.

In front of him was a huge octopus, ordevil fish, over three feet in diameter, withlong terrible arms.

It endeavoured to seize the professor,who, sinking upon his knees, shivered insilent terror!

–––––

It looked as if Professor Woodle’s lastmoment had come.

In a moment more the devil fish had theshivering man in its fearful embrace.

The captain and Mont, however, raisedtheir guns, and, with one shot left it con-vulsed in its dying agonies.

As they continued to descend into avalley, bounded on each side by high rocks,the darkness increased, for the sun's rayscould not penetrate more than a hundredand fifty yards.

It was now that the electric lamps be-came of importance.

As they got lower and lower, Dick felt anoppression about the head, and a greatdesire to sleep overcame him.

He lagged behind the others, and withdifficulty kept up with them.

(XVII “The Devil Fish” - XVIII “Montis Lost”, p. 112-113)

A Comparison of Textual Changes

13

[from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1873)] [from “Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegrace at Sea” (1874)]

[from The Wizard of the Sea (1900)]

14

Primary Sources

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeasVerne, Jules. “Vingt milles lieues sous les mers.” in Magasin d’education et de recreation

(20 Mar 1869 - 20 Jun 1870).Verne, Jules. Vingt milles lieues sous les mers. (Paris: J. Hetzel, 1870-1871). 2 volumes.Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. (London: Sampson Low, Marston,

Low & Searle, 1873). Translated by Mercier Lewis, published Nov 1872.Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. (Boston: James R. Osgood, 1873),

(Boston: George M. Smith, 1873). Translated by Lewis Mercier, published 30 Nov 1872.The Osgood and Smith editions show slight variations in cover design and typesetting of thefirst signature. They are considered to be approximately simultaneous. The Osgood editionis extremely scarce.

“Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegrace at Sea”By the author of Jack Harkaway. “Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegrace at Sea.” in Young Men

of Great Britain #260-?? (circa 1873). Published by Edwin J. Brett.By the author of Jack Harkaway. “Dick Lightheart; or, the Scapegrace at Sea.” in Boys of

America #6-12 (Feb 1874 - Aug 1874). Published by Frank Leslie.Hemyng, Bracebridge. The Scapegrace at Sea; or, Adventures of Dick Lightheart after leaving

school. (1874). Published by Edwin J. Brett. Advertised in Boys of England #400 (11 Jul1874). Characterized as the “exclusive property of Mr. Edwin J. Brett.”

Hemyng, Bracebridge. The Scapegrace at Sea; or, Adventures of Dick Lightheart after leavingschool. (American News Company, circa 1874). Listed in American Catalogue, July 11876.

Hemyng, Bracebridge. “Dick Lightheart at Sea.” Five Cent Wide Awake Library #85 (22 Mar1879). Published by Frank Tousey.

Hemyng, Bracebridge. “Dick Lightheart at Sea.” Five Cent Wide Awake Library #1257 (6 Mar1896). Published by Frank Tousey.

“The Wizard of the Deep; or, In Search of the $1,000,000 Pearl”Edison, Theodore. “The Wizard of the Deep; or, In Search of the $1,000,000 Pearl.” Young

Sports of America #11-16 (10 Aug 1895 - 14 Sep 1895). Published by Frank J. Earll.Rockwood, Roy. The Wizard of the Sea; or, A Trip Under the Ocean. (Mershon, 1900).

Reprinted by Chatterton-Peck (1907) and A.L. Burt (1910).

AcknowledgementsI would like to thank all of the people who helped me collect the information in this paper:J. Randolph Cox, Jack Dizer, Deidre Johnson, Karen Nelson-Hoyle, my wife, Kimberlee LuskKeeline, and especially Gil O’Gara, editor of the Yellowback Library who wrote an article that firstspotted the Hemyng story as a copy of Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.Without all of your help, this paper would not have been possible.