William Wymark Jacobs was an English author of short stories and novels. He is now best remembered for his macabre tales "The Monkey's Paw" (published 1902) and "The Toll House" (in the collection of short stories The Lady of the Barge). However the majority of his output was humorous in tone. His first collection of stories, Many Cargoes, achieved great popular success on its publication in 1896. Many Cargoes was followed by the novel The Skipper's Wooing in 1897, and another collection of short stories, Sea Urchins [1898] set the seal on his popularity. Among his other titles are Captains All, Sailors' Knots, and Night Watches. The title of the last reflects the ...

Poet, only son of Robert Browning, a man of fine intellect and equally fine character, who held a position in the Bank of England, was born in Camberwell. His mother, to whom he was ardently attached, was the daughter of a German shipowner who had settled in Dundee, and was alike intellectually and morally worthy of his affection. The only other member of the family was a younger sister, also highly gifted, who was the sympathetic companion of his later years. In his childhood he was distinguished by his love of poetry and natural history.
At 12 he had written a book of poetry which he destroyed when he could not find a publisher. After being at one or two private ...