Mudford, William

8 January 1782 - 10 March 1848
William Mudford at the trial of Queen Caroline


An English writer, editor, translator, and journalist with a strong interest in politics, Mudford turned his hand to "sensationalist" literature after some financial reverses and became a significant contributor to such magazines as Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine and Bentley's Monthly Magazine. So popular were his sensation stories that they were collected and published in book form, Tales and Trifles from Blackwood's and Other Popular Magazines (1849).

Etexts:
"The Iron Shroud"
A classic "predicament" story which appeared in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, the foremost C19 purveyor of such tales. Edgar Allan Poe satirizes said magazine and such works in his "How to Write a Blackwood's Article" and "A Predicament," although the disdain with which he treats such pieces didn't stop him from being heavily influenced by Mudford's story when he wrote "The Pit and the Pendulum."  [Dick Collins]


"William Mudford."