author
William Henry Stacpoole
A late-Victorian Irish writer with a feel for adventure and oddity, he moved between children's stories, novels, and early speculative fiction. His work ranges from light storytelling to strange scientific experiments and social satire.
1 Audiobook
"Farewell"
by William Henry Stacpoole
About the author
Born in Dublin in 1846, William Henry Stacpoole studied law at Trinity College, Dublin, but also built a literary career. He wrote fiction in the late 1880s and 1890s, including children's books, novels, and the science-fiction tale Herr Richter's Strange Experiment. He was the elder brother of novelist Henry de Vere Stacpoole and the brother of writer Florence Stacpoole.
Stacpoole's work shows a wide range of interests. Alongside imaginative fiction, he also wrote Victorian England, suggesting a taste for observing the world around him as well as inventing new ones. Modern reference sources still note him for his early speculative writing, especially the body-swap idea at the center of Herr Richter's Strange Experiment.
He died in 1914. Although he is not as widely remembered as some of his relatives, his books offer a lively glimpse of popular late-19th-century storytelling, where domestic fiction, fantasy, and scientific curiosity often met.