Bramah, Ernest

20 March 1868 - 23 June 1942

Real name Ernest Brammah Smith, English writer of crime fiction (including the Max Carrados novels, featuring a blind detective) as well as "Chinese" stories, written w/o the benefit of his having ever actually been to China. As a young man Bramah tried his hand at farming; failing that (though his failure provided him material for a book about failing as a farmer; the book itself was a flop), he moved to London and found a job as secretary to Jerome K. Jerome, and also worked on Jerome's short-lived weekly newspaper. Bramah, reticent about putting himself forward, used a pen name throughout his career, leading at least one critic of the time to wonder, in print, if "Ernest Bramah" really existed. Bramah also published on numismatics.

Sites:
Biographical note
[Wikipedia]
Ernest Bramah bibliography
With additional links; a good starting place for your Bramah investigation. [Mike Berro]
Ernest Bramah: Introductory Essay
Just what the title promises. [Peter Gaspar, at Mike Berro's site]
Ernest Bramah: Crime and Chinoiserie
A substantial overview of Bramah's career. [David Langford]
A Few Words about Ernest Bramah
Introductory note on Bramah as SF/Fantasy writer. [Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works]
Bramah bibliography
[Peter King]
Bibliography
[Fantastic Fiction]


Etexts:
"The Story of Chang Tao, Melodious Vision and the Dragon"
This tale is in Chapter VII of Kai Lung's Golden Hours [1922], available by chapter at Fantastic Fiction; use your browser's "Find" function to locate the tale within the chapter.
- The entire etext of Kai Lung's Golden Hours is also available as a Project Gutenberg etext (510K); use your browser's "Find" function to locate the work.

"The Transmutation of Ling"
One of the tales in The Wallet of Kai Lung [1900], a Project Gutenberg etext (485K); use your browser's "Find" function to locate the work.

"The Vision of Yin"
One of the tales in The Wallet of Kai Lung [1900], a Project Gutenberg etext (485K); use your browser's "Find" function to locate the work.


"Ernest Bramah."