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Capes, Bernard

(1854-1918) UK author, active from the late 1880s, initially writing as by Bevis Cane, his first novel, The Haunted Tower (1888), being under that name. Capes's first novel under his own name, The Mill of Silence (1897), is a complex supernatural tale, incorporating ghosts and hints of legendary upwellings. Some of his tales are of sf interest. At a Winter's Fire (coll 1899) includes "Moon Stricken" (December 1896 Cornhill Magazine), in which a strange telescope gives its user sight of terrible events on the Moon; "Jack the Skipper" in Loaves and Fishes (coll 1906) describes the Invention of an underwater suit whose wearer, mistaken for a Monster, terrifies London; in "Bullet Proof" in Bag an Baggage (coll 1913), another "crank" demonstrates his own Weapon, the bullet-proof Bugsley Vacuum Jacket. The Black Reaper (coll 1989; exp 1998) reassembles some of his best work. [JC]

Bernard Edward Joseph Capes

born London: 30 August 1854

died London: 2 November 1918

works (selected)

• The Haunted Tower (London: Spencer and Blackett, 1888) as by Bevis Cane [hb/]
• The Mill of Silence (Chicago, Illinois: Rand, McNally and Company, 1897) [hb/]

collections

• At a Winter's Fire (London: C Arthur Pearson, 1899) [coll: hb/]
• Plots (London: Methuen and Company, 1902) [coll: hb/]
• Loaves and Fishes (London: Methuen and Company, 1906) [coll: hb/]
• Bag and Baggage (London: Constable and Company, 1913) [coll: hb/]
• The Fabulists (London: Mills and Boon, 1915) [coll: hb/]
• From Door to Door: A Book of Romances, Fantasies, Whimsies, and Levities (Edinburgh, Scotland: William Blackwood, 1900) [coll: hb/]
• The Black Reaper (London: HarperCollins/Equation, 1989) [coll: edited by Hugh Lamb: pb/]
  • The Black Reaper (Ashcroft, British Columbia: Ash-Tree Press, 1998) [coll: exp of the above: hb/Richard Lamb]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 17:45 pm on 23 May 2022.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/capes_bernard>