The Invisible Prince: "You mustn't hope to disconcert me with questions like that"

By Henry Harland

Henry Harland was born in Brooklyn in the United States on 1st March 1861.

Harland was educated at the City College of New York and for a short spell Harvard Divinity School. In May 1884, he married Aline Herminie Merriam, who shared his artistic interests.

As a writer his works fall into two separate periods. He initially wrote under a pseudonym, Sidney Luska, and published a series of highly sensational novels. Whilst these were of a fashionable type at the time they contained little evidence of his literary qualities.

In 1889 the Harland’s’ moved to London and here he became an advocate of the Aesthetic movement. He now began to write under his own name and, in 1894, became the founding literary editor of avant-garde and boundary bending illustrated quarterly The Yellow Book, on which Aubrey Beardsley was the artistic editor. Despite its undoubted literary worth in producing new talents, especially women, and getting contributions from such luminaries as Henry James, H G Wells, Charlotte mew and George Gissing it was also ‘forced to close in 1897 after 13 issues.

The short story collections of this new period, A Latin Quarter Courtship (1889), Mademoiselle Miss (1893), Grey Roses (1895), and Comedies and Errors (1898), were praised by critics but had little general popularity. He finally achieved a wide readership with The Cardinal's Snuff-box’ (1900), which was followed by ‘The Lady Paramount’ (1901) and ‘My Friend Prospero’ (1903).

His last novel, ‘The Royal End’, was unfinished at his death but, working from his notes his wife completed the work and it was published in 1909.

Henry Harland died on 20th December 1905 at San Remo, Italy, after a prolonged period of tuberculosis.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Miniature Masterpieces
• Release date: Jan 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781803547596

Book preview

The Invisible Prince by Henry Harland

The Author, An Introduction

Henry Harland was born in Brooklyn in the United States on 1st March 1861.

Harland was educated at the City College of New York and for a short spell Harvard Divinity School. In May 1884, he married Aline Herminie Merriam, who shared his artistic interests.

As a writer his works fall into two separate periods. He initially wrote under a pseudonym, Sidney Luska,

and published a series of highly sensational novels. Whilst these were of a fashionable type at the time

they contained little evidence of his literary qualities.

In 1889 the Harland’s’ moved to London and here he became an advocate of the Aesthetic movement.

He now began to write under his own name and, in 1894, became the founding literary editor of avantgarde and boundary bending illustrated quarterly The Yellow Book, on which Aubrey Beardsley was the artistic editor. Despite its undoubted literary worth in producing new talents, especially women, and getting contributions from such luminaries as Henry James, H G Wells, Charlotte mew and George

Gissing it was also ‘forced to close in 1897 after 13 issues.

The short story collections of this new period, A Latin Quarter Courtship (1889), Mademoiselle Miss

(1893), Grey Roses (1895), and Comedies and Errors (1898), were praised by critics but had little general

popularity. He finally achieved a wide readership with The Cardinal's Snuff-box’ (1900), which was

followed by ‘The Lady Paramount’ (1901) and ‘My Friend Prospero’ (1903).

His last novel, ‘The Royal End’, was unfinished at his death but, working from his notes his wife

completed the work and it was published in 1909.

Henry Harland died on 20th December 1905 at San Remo, Italy, after a prolonged period of tuberculosis.

The Invisible Prince

At a masked ball given by the Countess Wohenhoffen, in Vienna, during carnival week, a year ago, a man draped in the embroidered silks of a Chinese mandarin, his features entirely concealed by an enormous Chinese head in cardboard, was standing in the Wintergarten, the big, dimly lighted conservatory, near the door of one of the gilt-and-white reception rooms, rather a stolid-seeming witness of the multi-coloured romp within, when a voice behind him said, How do you do, Mr. Field?—a woman's voice, an English voice.

The mandarin turned round.

From a black mask, a pair of blue-grey eyes looked into his broad, bland Chinese visage; and a black domino dropped him an extravagant little courtesy.

"How do you