Ernest Rhys
Encyclopedia
Ernest Percival Rhys was an English writer, best known for his role as founding editor of the Everyman's Library
series of affordable classics. He wrote essays, stories, poetry, novels and plays. He was born in London
, and brought up in Carmarthen
and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
After working in the coal industry, he was employed doing editorial work on the Camelot Series of 65 reprints and translations from 1886, for five years, while he turned to writing as a profession. He was a founder member in 1890 of the Rhymer's Club in London, and a contributor to The Book of the Rhymers' Club (1893).
In 1906, he persuaded J. M. Dent
, the publisher, for whom he was working on The Lyric Poets series, to start out on the ambitious Everyman project, aiming to publish 1000 titles; the idea was to put out ten at a time. The target was eventually reached, ten years after Rhys died.
Everyman's Library
Everyman's Library is a series of reprinted classic literature currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent , who continue to publish Everyman Classics in paperback.J. M. Dent and Company began to publish the series in 1906...
series of affordable classics. He wrote essays, stories, poetry, novels and plays. He was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and brought up in Carmarthen
Carmarthen
Carmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
and Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
After working in the coal industry, he was employed doing editorial work on the Camelot Series of 65 reprints and translations from 1886, for five years, while he turned to writing as a profession. He was a founder member in 1890 of the Rhymer's Club in London, and a contributor to The Book of the Rhymers' Club (1893).
In 1906, he persuaded J. M. Dent
J. M. Dent
Joseph Malaby Dent was a British book publisher who produced the Everyman's Library series.Dent was born in Darlington in what is now the Britaania public house. After a short and unsuccessful stint as an apprentice printer he took up bookbinding...
, the publisher, for whom he was working on The Lyric Poets series, to start out on the ambitious Everyman project, aiming to publish 1000 titles; the idea was to put out ten at a time. The target was eventually reached, ten years after Rhys died.
Works
- The Great Cockney Tragedy (1891)
- A London Rose: and other rhymes (1894) poems
- The fiddler of Carne (1896) Prose
- Welsh Ballads (1898) poems
- gwenevere: Lyric Play (1905)
- Lays of the Round Table (1905) poems
- The Masque of the Grail (1908)
- Enid: a lyric play written for music (1908)
- Lyric Poetry (1913) Criticism
- English Fairy Tales (1913) With Grace Little Rhys
- The Leaf-Burners (1918) poems
- The Growth of Political Liberty (1921)
- Blackhorse Pit (1925) novel
- Everyman Remembers (1931) autobiography
- Rhymes for Everyman (1933) poems
- Letters from Limbo (1936)
- Song of the Sun (1937) poems
As editor
- Fairy-Gold: A book of Old English Fairy Tales (edited by)(1906)
- The new golden treasury of songs and lyrics (1914) editor
- The Haunters and the Haunted: Ghost Stories and Tales of the Supernatural (1921) editor