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E.C. Bentley

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E.C. Bentley

E.C. Bentley (1875-1956). Courtesy Great Thoughts Treasury.

Edmund Clerihew Bentley (10 July 1875 - 30 March 1956) was a popular English poet, novelist, and humorist of the early 20th century, remembered as the inventor of the "clerihew".[1]

Life[]

Bentley was born in London. His father John Edmund Bentley, was professionally a civil servant but was also a rugby union international having played in the first ever international match for England against Scotland in 1871.

E.C. Bentley was educated at St Paul's School in London (where he met G.K. Chesterton. who became a lifelong friend, and Merton College, Oxford.[1]

Bentley worked as a journalist on several newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph. His debut collection of poetry, titled Biography for Beginners (1905)[2], popularized the clerihew form; it was followed by 2 other collections, in 1929 and 1939.

His detective novel, Trent's Last Case (1913),[3] was much praised, numbering Dorothy L. Sayers among its admirers, and with its labyrinthine and mystifying plotting can be seen as the first truly modern mystery. The success of the work inspired him, after 23 years, to write a sequel, Trent's Own Case (1936). There was also a book of Trent short stories, Trent Intervenes. Several of his books were reprinted in the early 2000s by House of Stratus.

From 1936 until 1949 Bentley was president of the Detection Club and contributed to both of their radio serials broadcast in 1930 and 1931 and published in 1983 as The Scoop and Behind The Screen.

He died at the age of 80 in 1956. His son Nicolas Bentley was a famous illustrator.

Writing[]

E.C. Bentley is the inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics. One of the best known is this (1905):

Sir Christopher Wren
Said, "I am going to dine with some men.
If anyone calls
Say I am designing St. Paul's."[2]

Recognition[]

Orson_Welles_quotes_Othello_in_'Trent's_last_case'

Orson Welles quotes Othello in 'Trent's last case'

In popular culture[]

His novel Trent's Last Case was adapted as a film in 1920, 1929, and 1952.

Phonographic recordings of his work "Recordings for the Blind" are heard in the movie Places in the Heart, by the character Mr. Will.

G.K. Chesterton dedicated his popular detective novel on anarchist terrorism, The Man Who Was Thursday, to Bentley.

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • Biography for Beginners: Being a collection of miscellaneous examples for the use of upper forms (illustrated by G.K. Chesterton). London: T.W. Laurie, 1905.
  • More Biography (illustrated by G.K. Chesterton, Victor Reinganum, Nicholas Bentley, & E.C. Bentley). London: Methuen, 1929.
  • A Ballad of Liquid Refreshment. New York: 1933.
  • Baseless Biography (illustrated by Nicholas Bentley). London: Constable, 1939.
  • Clerihews Complete (illustrated by G.K. Chesterton, Victor Reinganum, Nicholas Bentley, & E.C. Bentley). London: T.W. Laurie, 1951.
  • also published as Complete Clerihews of E.C. Bentley (illustrated by G.K. Chesterton, Victor Reinganum, Nicholas Bentley, & E.C. Bentley). Oxford, UK, & New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.
  • The First Clerihews (illustrated by G.K. Chesterton). Oxford, UK, & New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.

Novels[]

  • Trent's Last Case. London & New York: Nelson, 1913.
  • Trent's Own Case. London: Constable, 1936; New York: Knopf, 1936.
  • Trent's Casebook. New York: Knopf, 1953.

Short fiction[]

  • Trent Intervenes. London: Nelson, 1938; New York: Knopf, 1938.

Non-fiction[]

  • Those Days (memoir). London: Constable, 1940.

Edited[]

  • The Second Century of Detective Stories. London: Hutchinson, 1938.


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[4]

E.C._Bentley_-_Sir_Humphrey_Davy

E.C. Bentley - Sir Humphrey Davy

See also[]

References[]

  • T.J. Binyon, Murder Will Out: The detective in fiction (Oxford, 1989) ISBN 0-19-219223-X pp. 57–58.

Notes[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 E.C. Bentley, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web, Oct. 26, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bentley, E. Clerihew (1905). Biography for Beginners. ISBN 978-1443753159. 
  3. ↑ Bentley, E. Clerihew (1913). Trent's Last Case, ISBN 978-0755103270
  4. ↑ Search results = au:E.C. Bentley, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Oct. 26, 2014.

External links[]

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