author
Elliott Whitney
1863–1913
Best known for fast-moving boys' adventure stories, this early 20th-century writer published under the name Elliott Whitney for tales filled with wild animals, danger, and far-flung settings. Behind that pen name was a newspaperman and novelist whose stories helped shape popular juvenile fiction of his era.
3 Audiobooks
The pirate shark
by Elliott Whitney
The blind lion of the Congo
by Elliott Whitney
The rogue elephant
by Elliott Whitney
About the author
Born in 1863, the writer behind Elliott Whitney was Harry Lincoln Sayler, an American newspaperman and novelist. Sources describe him as a graduate of DePauw University who worked in journalism before building a career in fiction, writing both under his own name and under several pseudonyms.
The name Elliott Whitney was used for adventure novels for younger readers, including entries in the Boys' Big Game Series such as The Blind Lion of the Congo and The Rogue Elephant. These books are remembered for their brisk pacing, exotic settings, and dramatic encounters with wildlife, all features that made them popular with readers looking for action and escapist adventure.
Sayler died in 1913, but the Elliott Whitney name continued to appear afterward because it was also used by other writers. That makes the name a little unusual in literary history: it points not just to one person, but to a shared adventure-writing identity linked especially with Sayler's work.