Roberts, Charles G D
Entry updated 1 December 2024. Tagged: Author.
(1860-1943) Canadian poet and author, important in Canada's literary history, prolific in several modes from 1880 to 1941, brother of Theodore Goodridge Roberts; the posthumous collapse of his reputation came about partly because of the unyielding conservatism of his poetry (now forgotten except for warhorses), but also because his racism about Native Canadians (and others) has worn poorly. Earth's Enigmas (coll 1896; rev 1903) contains several supernatural tales. Among his many works focusing on wildlife are the Animal Fantasies [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below] assembled in The Kindred of the Wild (coll 1902), in which various beasts reason like human beings. A sequence of Prehistoric SF stories beginning with "The World Without Man" (May 1912 The London Magazine) was assembled as In the Morning of Time (coll of linked stories 1919), which romantically presents the first stages of humanity's ascent to civilization (see Evolution); a sequel, "Overlords of Earth" (1924 Yellow Magazine), did not reach book form. Early, sapient ape-men are anachronistically shown as coexisting with inimical dinosaurs. The influence of J-H Rosny aîné's La guerre du feu (1911; cut trans as The Quest for Fire: A Novel of Prehistoric Times 1967; vt Quest for Fire 1982) seems evident. Roberts was knighted in 1935. [PN/JC/DRL]
see also: Origin of Man.
Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
born Douglas, New Brunswick: 10 January 1860
died Toronto, Ontario: 26 November 1943
works
- Earth's Enigmas: A Volume of Stories (Boston, Massachusetts: Lamson, Wolffe and Company, 1896) [coll: hb/]
- Earth's Enigmas (Boston, Massachusetts: L C Page and Company, 1903) [coll: rev of the above: hb/]
- The Kindred of the Wild (Toronto, Ontario: Copp, Clark, 1902) [coll: hb/]
- In the Morning of Time (London: Hutchinson, 1919) [coll of linked stories: first story appeared May 1912 The London Magazine as "The World Without Man": three further stories followed in 1912: hb/]
links
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Project Gutenberg
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Animal Fantasy
- Picture Gallery
previous versions of this entry