Rider Haggard and the Lost Empire, Tom Pocock. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1993. First Edition. 8vo up to 9½” tall., xiii, 261pp. Blue boards with gilt spine titles. Volume appears in unread condition; dust jacket is in fine, unclipped, condition.
Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He is remembered as the author of adventure novels, which shocked and fascinated not only Victorian and Edwardian Britain, but the world. Films of his books – notable “King Solomon’s Mines” and “She” have been made, but Haggard, a Norfolk squire, saw his writing only as an amusing and lucrative pastime. The other Haggard, statesman and creator of a world of fact is explored in this book. His imagination was held by the reality of the British Empire and its future rather than the lost civilizations of his literary fantasies.
