Rowe, John Gabriel
Entry updated 13 June 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1873-1956) UK editor, screenwriter and author, mostly of tales for boys, though in his later career he published some modestly adoring biographies of British figures, all men; he also wrote as by Mortimer Austin, James Bright, Gregory Dunstan, Arthur Ferris, John Gabriel (this may have been the real name of a different author), Charles Lewis, Charles A Ransome, Alice E Rowe and T B Walters. He was active from before 1890. The range of his work of sf interest has not been definitely established, nor is there any secure record of the first appearance, either in magazine or chapbook form, of his tales. At the same time, a boy's adventure like The Submarine Mutiny (circa 1910 chap), in which a valiant lad outwits the villainous crew of a submarine capable of achieving speed of over 100 mph, may have appeared only once [see Checklist below]. Much or perhaps most of his fiction seems to have preceded World War One, a Near Future title like The Aerial War: A Tale of What Might Be (1907 chap), though republished around 1915, clearly does not that conflict. Other titles of possible interest include The Secret of the Golden Idol (magazine publication untraced; 1928) and The Lost City of Manoa; Or, the Sacred Talisman: A Stirring Story of Adventure in South America (magazine publication untraced; circa 1928), both of them Lost Race tales. The Death Flash; Or, The Horror of Monkstone Wood (1935) as John G Rowe is a thriller in which criminals make use of an electrical Death Ray. [JC]
John Gabriel Rowe [born John Thomas Rowe]
born Liverpool, England: 19 October 1873
died Stoke Newington, London: 2 January 1956
works (tentative listings; selected)
- The Submarine Mutiny (London: Aldine Publishing Company, circa 1910) [chap: first appeared as whole number 115 of the publishers' The Diamond Library series: pb/uncredited]
- The Aerial War: A Tale of What Might Be (London: Trapps Holmes, 1907) [chap: first appeared 28 December 1907 as whole number 35 of the publisher's The Vanguard Library series: pb/W F Coles]
- The Secret of the Golden Idol (New York: Cupples and Leon, 1928) [first magazine appearance untraced: hb/uncredited]
- The Lost City of Manoa; Or, the Sacred Talisman: A Stirring Story of Adventure in South America (London: The Modern Publishing Company, circa 1928) [first magazine appearance untraced: hb/uncredited]
- The Death Flash; Or, The Horror of Monkstone Wood (London: The Modern Publishing Company, 1935) as John G Rowe [hb/]
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