Ernest Brammah Smith (20 March 186823 June 1942), who wrote under the pseudonym of Ernest Bramah, was an English author.The most recent biographical source is: Aubrey Wilson, The Search for Ernest Bramah (Creighton and Read 2007). He published 21 books and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works were often ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Jacobs, his detective stories with Conan Doyle, his politico-science fiction with H. G. Wells, and his supernatural stories with Algernon Blackwood. George Orwell acknowledged that Bramah's book What Might Have Been influenced his Nineteen Eighty-Four. Bramah created the characters Kai Lung and Max Carrados.White, William (1964)."Ernest Bramah" and "Checklist." The Book Collector 13 no 1(spring):54-63.
Early career Ernest Brammah Smith (the spelling of his middle name on his birth certificate was recorded by the register as 'Brammah', not 'Bramah') was born in Manchester, England, in 1868, the son of Charles Clement Smith and Susannah (Brammah) Smith. Aged 16, he quit Manchester Grammar School, having been near the bottom in each subject. He became a farmer, first as a pupil and then in his own right. He was assisted financially by his father, who had transformed in a short time from a factory hand to a wealthy man. The farming enterprise cost his father £100,000 in modern money, but it was while farming that Bramah began to contribute local vignettes to the Birmingham News. Later he wrote a satirical book about his adventures in farming.White, William. "Country Correspondent to Editor and Novelist: Ernest Bramah (1868-1942)." Journalism Quarterly 44, no. 4 (1967) It had few buyers, and was remaindered and pulped, though his father agreed to assist him financially while he made his way in Grub Street as a writer. He eventually obtained a position as secretary to Jerome K. Jerome and became editor of one of Jerome's magazines. After quitting Jerome, Smith edited other journals for a publishing business that later went bankrupt.
Writing career
Bramah attained commercial and critical success with his creation of Kai Lung, an itinerant storyteller. He first appears in The Wallet of Kai Lung which was rejected by eight publishers before Grant Richards published it in 1900. It was still in print a hundred years later. The Kai Lung stories are humorous tales set in China, often with fantasy elements such as dragons and gods.David Langford, "Bramah, Ernest" in the Encyclopedia of Fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant, 1997, Orbit (pp. 135-36).
With Kai Lung, Bramah developed a style of narration typified by the following passages: "Kai Lung rose guardedly to his feet, with many gestures of polite assurance and having bowed several times to indicate his pacific nature, he stood in an attitude of deferential admiration. At this display the elder and less attractive of the maidens fled, uttering loud and continuous cries of apprehension to conceal the direction of her flight".Bramah, Ernest (1922). Kai Lung's Golden Hours. London: Grant Richards Ltd., p. 9. "In particular, there is among this august crowd of Mandarins one Wang Yu, who has departed on three previous occasions without bestowing the reward of a single cash. If the feeble and covetous Wang Yu will place in his very ordinary bowl the price of one of his exceedingly ill-made pipes, this unworthy person will proceed."Bramah, Ernest (1900). The Wallet of Kai Lung. London: Grant Richards, p. 124. "After secretly observing the unstudied grace of her movements, the most celebrated picture-maker of the province burned the implements of his craft, and began life anew as a trainer of performing elephants."Bramah (1922), p. 174.
The Kai Lung stories include many proverbs and aphorisms, such as the following: "He who lacks a single tael sees many bargains"Bramah (1922), p. 57. "It is a mark of insincerity of purpose to spend one’s time in looking for the sacred Emperor in low-class teashops"Bramah (1900), p. 6. "It has been said there are few situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and without loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold or by thrusting a despised antagonist over the edge of a precipice on a dark night"Bramah (1922), p. 264.
Bramah also wrote political science fiction. What Might Have Been, published in 1907 and republished as The Secret of the League in 1909, is an anti-socialist dystopia representing Bramah's conservative political opinions.John Clute, "Bramah, Ernest", in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction edited by Clute and Peter Nicholls, Orbit, 1993 (pp. 15–56). It was acknowledged by George Orwell as a source for Nineteen Eighty-Four. Orwell credited it with giving a considerably accurate prediction of the rise of Fascism.George Orwell, "Predictions of Fascism", originally published in the Tribune on 12 July 1940, appearing in The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Volume 2, pp. 47–48).
At a time when the English Channel had yet to be crossed by an aeroplane, Bramah foresaw aerial express trains traveling at 10,000 feet, a nationwide wireless-telegraphy network, a prototype fax machine and a cypher typewriter similar to the German Enigma machine.
In 1914, Bramah created Max Carrados, a blind detective. Given the outlandish idea that a blind man could be a detective, in the introduction to the second Carrados book The Eyes of Max Carrados, Bramah compared his hero's achievements to those of real-life blind people such as Nicholas Saunderson, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, Blind Jack of Knaresborough the road builder, John Fielding the Bow Street Magistrate (of whom it was said he could identify 3,000 thieves by their voices), and Helen Keller.
In 1929, Bramah wrote the book "English Regal Copper Coins" which was published by Methuen. The book concentrates on British copper coinage from 1671 during the reign of Charles II until the end of pure copper coin production in 1860. The book is still used widely by numismatic auction houses throughout the world with Bramah reference numbers. The section on coin rarity as a percentage of production for each year is still considered useful to date.Publications by Ernest Bramah Retrieved 19 September 2021.
"Interesting times" and other quotations Bramah has been credited with the invention of the saying, quoted often as an ancient Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times", along with "May you come to the attention of those in authority" and "May you find what you are looking for". However, these do not appear in the Kai Lung stories.
Archives at Harry Ransom Center
Bramah's manuscripts, correspondence and additional materials including his work for Jerome K. Jerome and as staff member for the magazine Today, The Idler and the Grosvenor Press are held at the University of Texas Harry Ransom Center. A letter of 27 April 1923 from Bramah to Grant Richards explains that he had never been to China.White, William. "Ernest Bramah on China: An Important Letter." PMLA : Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 87, no. 3 (1972): 511–13.
Personal life and death Bramah was a very private man who did not make public any details of his personal life. He was married to Lucy Maisie Smith.Hendon & Finchley Times, 29 December 1939 He died at the age of 74 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, leaving an estate valued at £15,172 (()).Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, 8 June 1943 After his death, his widow presented a collection of all his published books to the Hammersmith borough libraries, for reference use only. Bramah had lived in Hammersmith for some 30 years, not far from Ravenscourt Park.Letter from the borough librarian in The Times; 1 June 1978
Select bibliography Kai Lung Books The Wallet of Kai Lung (1900) "The Transmutation of Ling" "The Story of Yung Chang" "The Probation of Sen Heng" "The Experiment of the Mandarin Chan Hung" "The Confession of Kai Lung" "The Vengeance of Tung Fel" "The Career of the Charitable Quen-Ki-Tong" "The Vision of Yin, the Son of Yat Huang" "The Ill-Regulated Destiny of Kin Yen, the Picture-Maker" Kai Lung's Golden Hours (1922) "The Story of Wong Ts'in and the Willow Plate Embellishment" "The Story of Ning, the Captive God, and the Dreams That Mark His Race" "The Story of Wong Pao and the Minstrel" "The Story of Lao Ting and the Luminous Insect" "The Story of Weng Cho or the One Devoid of Name" "The Story of Wang Ho and the Burial Robe" "The Story of Chang Tao, Melodious Vision and the Dragon" "The Story of Yuen Yan, of the Barber Chou-hu, and of His Wife, Tsae-che" 'The Story of Hien and the Chief Examiner' "The Story of the Loyalty of Ten-teh, the Fisherman" Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat (1928) "The Story of Wan and the Remarkable Shrub" "The Story of Wong Tsoi and the Merchant Teen King's Thumb" "The Story of Tong So, the Averter of Calamities" "The Story of Lin Ho and the Treasure of Fang-Tso" "The Story of Kin Weng and the Miraculous Tusk" "The Story of the Philosopher Kuo Tsun and of His Daughter, Peerless Chou" "The Story of Ching-kwei and the Destinies" The Moon of Much Gladness (1932; published in the United States as The Return of Kai Lung) The Kai Lung Omnibus (1936) The Wallet of Kai Lung Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat Kai Lung's Golden Hours'''Kai Lung Beneath the Mulberry Tree (1940) "The Story of Prince Ying, Virtuous Mei and the Pursuit of Worthiness" "The Three Recorded Judgments of Prince Ying, from the Inscribed Scroll of Mou Tao, the Beggar" "The Ignoble Alliance of Lin T'sing with the Outlaw Fang Wang, and How It Affected the Destinies" "The Story of Yin Ho, Hoa-mi, and the Magician" "The Story of Ton Hi, Precious Gem and the Inconspicuous Elephant" "The Story of Sam-Tso, the Family Called Wong, and the Willing Buffalo" "The Story of Saho Chi, the No-longer Merchant Ng Hon, and the Docile Linnets" "The Story of the Poet Lao Ping, Chun Shin's Daughter Fa, and the Fighting Crickets"The Celestial Omnibus (1940) "The Transmutation of Ling" "The Vengeance of Tung Fel" "The Confession of Kai Lung" "The Encountering of Six Within a Wood" "The Inexorable Justice of Mandarin Shan Tien" "The Out-Passing into a State of Assured Felicity" "The High-minded Strategy of the Amiable Hwa-mei" "The Malignity of the Depraved Ming Shu" "The Story of Prince Ying" "The Story of the Poet Lao Ping"Kai Lung: Six (1974) "The Story of Lam-Hoo and the Reward of Merit" "The Story of Chung Pun and the Miraculous Peacocks" "The Story of Yeun Yang and the Empty Soo-Shong Chest" "The Story of Sing Tsung and the Exponent of Dark Magic" "The Story Kwey Chao and the Grateful Song Bird" "The Story Li Pao, Lucky Star and the Intruding Stranger"Kai Lung Raises His Voice (2010) "The Subtlety of Kang Chieng" (previously unpublished) "Ming Tseuen and the Emergency" "Lam-Hoo and the Reward of Merit" "Chung Pun and the Miraculous Peacocks" "Yeun Yang and the Empty Lo-Chee Crate" "Sing Tsung and the Exponent of Dark Magic" "Kwey Chao and the Grateful Song Bird" "Li Pao, Lucky Star and the Intruding Stranger" "The Cupidity of Ah Pak or Riches No Protection Against Thunderbolts" (previously unpublished) "The Romance of Kwang the Fruit Gatherer" (previously unpublished) "The Destiny of Cheng, the Son of Sha-kien of the Waste Expanses" (previously unpublished) "The Romance of Kwang the Fruit Gatherer" (alternative version; e-book only) "The Emperor Who Meant Well" (previously unpublished)
Max Carrados BooksMax Carrados (1914) "The Coin of Dionysius" "The Knight's Cross Signal Problem" "The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage" "The Clever Mrs. Straithwaite" "The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor" "The Tilling Shaw Mystery" "The Comedy at Fountain Cottage" "The Game Played in the Dark"The Eyes of Max Carrados (1923) "The Virginiola Fraud" "The Disappearance of Marie Severe" "The Secret of Dunstan's Tower" "The Mystery of the Poisoned Dish of Mushrooms"