Drake, H B
Entry updated 17 February 2025. Tagged: Author.
(1894-1963) Chinese-born teacher, Orientalist and author, in UK from childhood, in active service during World War One, who wrote occasional Fantasy tales involving the occult. His most successful novel was probably the non-genre Chinese White (1950) as Burgess Drake, set in China during World War Two; but he is primarily remembered today for his first novel The Remedy (1925; vt The Shadowy Thing 1928) because of its influence on H P Lovecraft. A young man with strong powers of Hypnosis inadvertently causes a fellow student to become possessed by an inhuman intelligence, leading to his insanity and death; the hypnotist proceeds to bring other people under his control, and finally, during World War One, escapes death by means of an Identity Transfer to the severely war-mutilated body of an acquaintance. The influence can be clearly seen in Lovecraft's "The Shadow out of Time" (June 1936 Astounding) and "The Thing on the Door-step" (January 1937 Weird Tales).
Other works of genre interest include Cursed Be the Treasure (1926), about a haunted pirate's treasure which protects itself from predators; The Captain of the "Jehovah" (1936), involving native Magic aboard a slave ship; The Book of Lyonne (1952) as Burgess Drake, a children's fantasy illustrated by Drake's long-time friend Mervyn Peake; Hush-a-by Baby (1952; vt Children of the Wind 1954) as Burgess Drake, about a woman haunted by the spirits of her miscarried twins; and The Woman and the Priest (1955) as Burgess Drake, concerning a struggle between forces of good and evil for spiritual dominance on a small French island. Drake also wrote the short Horror story "Yak Mool San" (1949 The London Mystery Magazine #1). He was the godfather of Peake's daughter. [LW]
Henry Burgess Drake
born Tsien Ping, Shansi, China: 14 April 1894
died Widley, Hampshire: September 1963
works (selected)
- The Remedy (London: John Long, 1925) [hb/]
- The Shadowy Thing (New York: Macy-Masius/The Vanguard Press, 1928) [vt of the above: hb/]
- Cursed Be the Treasure (London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1926) [hb/E A Cox]
- The Schooner California (London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1926) [hb/]
- Captain of the "Jehovah" (New York: Greenberg Publishing, 1936) [hb/]
- The Book of Lyonne (London: Falcon Press, 1952) as Burgess Drake [illus/hb/Mervyn Peake]
- Hush-a-by Baby (London: Falcon Press, 1952) as Burgess Drake [hb/William Kermode]
- Children of the Wind (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J P Lippincott, 1954) as Burgess Drake [vt of the above: hb/]
- The Woman and the Priest (London: Peter Davies, 1955) as Burgess Drake [hb/]
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