Harold R. (Harold Richard) Vynne

Harold R. Vynne, identified in library and genealogy records as Harold Richard Vynne, was born in Cumberland, England, in 1863 and died in Chicago in 1903. Surviving catalog records and family-tree sources place his life between England and the United States, with Chicago the city most closely tied to his published work.

He is best known for Chicago by Day and Night (1892), a guide to the city’s amusements, social life, and attractions just before the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. The book reads as a vivid snapshot of a fast-growing city and shows his interest in urban culture, nightlife, and the energy of late 19th-century America.

Bibliographic records also link Vynne to fiction published in series such as Tales From Town Topics and the Oriental Library, suggesting that he worked across both journalism-like nonfiction and popular magazine or dime-novel writing. A clear portrait could not be confirmed from the sources reviewed.