The Witch Of Prague & Other Stories by F. Marion Crawford

(1896) Crawford gained remarkable success, fame and affluence that was envied by many of his peers. Titles to follow it were By the Waters of Paradise, (1894) Katherine Lauderdale, (1894) The Ralstons, (1895) Casa Braccio (1895) and Corleone: A Tale of Sicily. In 1893, defending romance and his work in The Novel: What It Is, (1893) his philosophy was that books are for entertaining, a 'pocket theatre'. He wrote of the Italian Republic and the Vatican from his Catholic perspective without preaching.

(1891)Ĭrawford wrote about duels and the nobility, love and adventure, arranged marriages and romance. (1892) Written in the same period were A Tale of a Lonely Parish, (1886) Marzio's Crucifix, (1887) Paul Patoff, (1887) Greifenstein (1889) and The Witch of Prague. Saracinesca, (1887) Sant' Ilario, (1889) (dedicated to his wife) and Don Orsino. His Saracinesca trilogy, of Don Giovanni when Rome was still the capitol of the Papal States, is considered among his most impressive works. Sometimes writing several novels a year, Crawford's most prolific period was between 18. By 1887 he was ready to settle down to a career in writing and bought a villa in Sant' Agnello di Sorrento, to be named 'Crawford Villa', which would be turned into a convent after his death. They lived in Rome with Crawford's mother and had four children. In 1884 he travelled to Constantinople, where in the French Catholic church of Pera he married Elizabeth Christophers Berdan, daughter of General Hiram Berdan. (1885) Amid rumours and scandal Crawford had also became friends with Boston socialite, art patron and museum founder Isabella Stewart Gardner. Books to follow were Doctor Claudius, (1883) To Leeward, (1883) A Roman Singer, (1884) and An American Politician: A Novel. Jacob whom Crawford had met while editing a newspaper in Simla, India. It is based on his experiences in India including meeting his friend Alexander M. Isaacs: A Tale of Modern India (1882) was an instant success. When he travelled to India, there until 1880, he converted to Roman Catholicism.Ĭrawford was back across the Atlantic in 1881 landing in Boston to seek literary employment and possibly a career in politics though he knew little about American politics. He was an extraordinary linguist of twenty languages including studying Sanskrit at the University of Rome. 1869 he returned to Rome then went on to travel throughout Italy, England and Germany. Crawford's early schooling was from private tutors. Crawford's father died when he was just three years old and his mother Louisa remarried Luther Terry, an American painter.

The Witch Of Prague & Other Stories by F. Marion Crawford