03 December 2017

Who Was Dryasdust?

...continuing from this morning's post...

So, obviously, from the very beginning Dryasdust was perceived as a pseudonym. But for whom?

A few years after their initial publication, revised editions of Tales Of The Wonder Club began to appear, with the author's name revealed - M.Y. Halidom. The mystery solved!

Erm... not so much.
As the Dictionary Of Pseudonyms explains:


More specifically, halidom is a word for a Sacred Place or Sacred Object. Just as a note for those wanting to contemplate the author's intent.

From the beginning, this, too, was recognized as a pseudonym. See the 4 June 1904 edition of The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art for a contemporary example:


And so, the mystery lingered on throughout the 20th century. From The Encyclopedia Of Fantasy:


Some even thought they had found the author, though they were later proven eroneous, as in this entry from the Dictionary Of Literary Pseudonyms:


Not until this century, in 2005, did someone finally find an answer to this puzzle. And this is where it gets frustrating for me, because i can only find second hand references to the solution with no details of the determination process.
It seems that the folks at Wormwood magazine, a small UK publication from Tartarus Press put together a research team who uncovered Alexander Huth as our author.

Not a lot is known about the man. There's considerably more information available on his father, oddly enough. Here's his listing from ThePeerage.com :

Alexander Huth
M, #447198, b. 23 December 1838, d. 12 December 1914
Last Edited=27 Aug 2010
     Alexander Huth was born on 23 December 1838 at Marylebone, London, EnglandG.1,2,3,4,6,7 He was the son of Charles Frederick Huth and Frances Caroline Marshall.7 He married Gesualda Margherita Maria Milana, daughter of Bernardo Milana and Carolina Mastropietro, on 19 August 1870 at ItalyG.7 He died on 12 December 1914 at age 75 at Wandsworth, London, EnglandG.1,7
     He lived in 1841 at St. Marylebone, London, EnglandG.6,7 He lived in 1851 at Brighthelmstone, Sussex, EnglandG.2,7 He lived in 1891 at Wandsworth, London, EnglandG.4,7 He lived in 1901 at Wandsworth, London, EnglandG.3,7
Children of Alexander Huth and Gesualda Margherita Maria Milana

    Lancelot Arthur Huth+7 b. 5 Sep 1875, d. 14 Nov 1967
    Enid Agnes Huth+7 b. 1878, d. 1968
    Vivien Josephine Maria Huth7 b. 1 Nov 1879, d. Dec 1972
    Elaine Mary Huth7 b. 1881, d. 1948
    Galahad John Huth+7 b. Jun 1883, d. 6 Oct 1963
    Frances Guinevere Huth+7 b. Dec 1886, d. 1970
    Merlin Huth+7 b. Jun 1888, d. 1987


Not exactly a wealth of information.

That's the complete extent of my knowledge on the subject, and i've been unable to find either the Wormwood issue or a summary of the data. In fact, even Tartarus Press seems to be sold out of the likely issue containing the work.

Anybody out there who can fill in the gaps on how this mystery was solved? Or has it merely been declared to solved, with the mystery yet remaining?

For those wishing to read these early tales of the fantastic, all three books are available on Project Gutenberg.

12 comments:

  1. If you want to know more about Dryasdust, ask me.

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    1. Nicely cryptic.
      You probably ought to include some method for interested folks to be able to actually ask, eh?

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I'm glad my post was found "nicely cryptic".
      I'm ready to unveil on this blog those elements of Alexander Huth's life that I know.
      Ask and you'll be answered.

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    2. The biggest question is a simple one, though the answer may not be -
      How was Huth's identity as Dryasdust determined? What was the proof that solved the puzzle?

      A secondary question, posed by your apparent knowledge - were you part of the team that worked with Wormwood to find the answer? (Given your data-mining expertise, it seemed a fair possibility)

      Delete
  3. Here I am, -3-!
    The awareness of Huth's identity simply passed from one of his children to a grand child, who revealed the truth.
    As for your second question, no, I was not part of that team. I am a relative of his wife and, of course, of his descendants.
    Would it be of any interest for you to know that Alexander was an artist, not a writer, for most of his life?

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    1. Welcome back, Francesca. Thanks for the information. Kind of feels like cheating though. They put together a research team to find the answer and the family just handed it to them? Bit of a let-down.

      But, yes - it would interest me very much to know that, and about his artwork. One problem with knowing so very little about him is not knowing what questions to ask. Now that you've mentioned he was an artist, i'm curious about his original designs for the illustrations in the Tales Of The Wonder Club volumes. (The credits mention that the artists worked from the author's designs.)

      Another obvious question - do we have more of his surviving works?

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  4. He enjoyed drawing human characters. At least he did ehen he was in Italy, where he drew and painted people he knew.
    I guess all of his literary works are known, not only the Tales of the Wonder Club but also Zoe's Revenge, The Woman in Black and a couple more.

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  5. Thank you for filling in some of the gaps.
    The last question i can think of at the moment is "Do any of his artworks survive in a public forum where they can be seen?"

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  6. I'm afraid they are in private hands, at least so are the few I have seen.
    In my opinion, though, he was more interesting as a fantasy author in his late mature age than as a young or adult painter.
    And I want to believe that he shifted from painting to writing after his wife's death, that made a "Dryasdust" of him and pushed him to find his Halidom in his closet.

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    1. A not surprising response, though i had hoped otherwise.
      I suspect you're likely right on your assessment of his work, but (as might be obvious if one peruses this site) i often like to look at where things began to better see the evolution and growth that led to what they became.

      Also - I like your thoughts on the shift keying to his personal life. And more, i appreciate how you framed it as a personal interpretation for clarity. It makes me desirous of an article on his life authored by you.
      (No, i'm not trying to coax or pressure you - merely appreciative)

      Delete
  7. Thanks for the appreciation, but I do not think my English is good enough for producing an article. I do write, but in my own language and mainly short stories. Maybe one of my Huth cousins could do the job.

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