HAGGARD, HENRY RIDER
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Sir Henry Rider Haggard (June 22, 1856-May 14, 1925) was an English novelist and agriculturalist, famed for his adventure stories about a largely mythical Africa. As a young man he had participated in the British annexation of the South African Republic (S.A.R.).
Born at Bradenham, Norfolk, England, he went to South Africa at the age of 19 as secretary to the British governor of Natal. He then became a member of the staff of Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who annexed the Boer South African Republic in 1877. Haggard himself hoisted the British flag in Pretoria at the time of annexation, and later served as master of the high court of the republic. He left South Africa for England in 1879, and married. He later returned in time to witness the overthrow of Shepstone’s policy and the regaining of independence by the S.A.R.
Back in England, Haggard authored an account of developments in South Africa, entitled Cetywayo and His White Neighbours (1882). He then began publication of a series of African adventure stories that were to bring him fame and fortune, and to help create in the minds of his readers a romanticised Africa that never was.
His more famous novels included King Solomon’s Mines (1885), She (1887), and Alan Quartermain (1887). He practised farming, and wrote on agricultural matters in such works as his two-volume Rural England (1902). He also served on government commissions concerned with agriculture. He was knighted in 1912. His autobiography, The Days of My Life, was published posthumously in 1926. Some of his stories have been the subject of full-length films, notably King Solomon’s Mines (1937 and 1950), and She (1935 and 1965).
A key element in his fiction was the assumption that the African continent held a great mystery in its unexplored interior. Although later knowledge dissipated this concept, the image of the nonexistent but believable world that he created continued to fascinate a popular readership. His strength lay in his gift for narrative, which still compels by its imaginative power, and which stands strongly in contrast with the psychological style of writing that later came into vogue.
KEITH IRVINE
