The Fate of a Crown
First edition
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| Author |
L. Frank Baum (as "Schuyler Staunton") |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Glen C. Sheffer |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Adventure fiction |
| Publisher | Reilly & Britton |
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Publication date
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1905 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 306 pp. |
The Fate of a Crown is a 1905 adventure novel written by L. Frank Baum, the author best known for his Oz books. It was published under the pen name "Schuyler Staunton," one of Baum's several pseudonyms. (Baum arrived at the name by adding one letter to the name of his late maternal uncle Schuyler Stanton.)
In the years just before and after 1900, Baum had established himself as a successful author of children's books. He then set out to expand his audience in three potentially lucrative areas: adult fiction and juvenile fiction for girls and for boys. The Fate of a Crown was his first endeavor for the adult audience. In 1906 he published Annabel and Aunt Jane's Nieces, juvenile novels for girls, and Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea, a book for boys. (Each of these books was issued under a different pseudonym.)
In The Fate of a Crown, Baum wrote an adventure novel that combines elements of political intrigue, melodrama, and mystery story. He set the book in Brazil in 1889, during the revolution that brought the Empire of Brazil to its end. Baum chose the rather daring strategy of including major historical figures of the period, Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca,Floriano Peixoto, and even Emperor Pedro II, as characters in his fiction. (This may have been an additional good reason for releasing the novel under a pen name.)
The novel's protagonist is a young American named Robert Harcliffe; a recent college graduate, he works for his family's mercantile business in New Orleans, run by his Uncle Nelson. Nelson Harcliffe receives a letter from an old client in Brazil, Dom Miguel de Pintra, a wealthy man who has retired from business to devote himself to politics – specifically to the republican cause that struggles to replace the Brazilian Empire. Dom Miguel has written to request a secretary; Robert, eager for adventure, agrees to take the job.
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Wikipedia