Author: Ryan, Everhard
Biography:
RYAN, Everhard (fl 1777)
Undoubtedly, “the late Rev. Mr. [Everhard] Ryan,” the stated author of Reliques of Genius, is the pseudonym of a person unknown. The book commences with a brief memoir of the supposed author, purportedly written by a friend from youth who took it upon himself to edit and publish the work. Ryan was “the son of a gentleman of small fortune from the North of England.” Steeped in Greek and Roman classics, acquainted with “moral philosophy, history and criticism,” he was a man of exemplary temper and character “joined to the most perfect integrity and the warmest affections.” He was patronized by distant relatives, “persons of wealth and interest,” who, for unstated reasons, turned against him. Being a “plant of a texture too delicate for the storms and inclemencies of the world,” he died at the age of 24 when “a lingering disorder…put a period to his life.” A writer in CR believed that “the name and story of Mr. Ryan, prefixed to [Reliques of Genius] are fictitious.” No documentation proves his real existence. No one of that name is listed in school or university registers; the name does not appear in CCEd. Two items in the book were previously published. “Hymn to Industry” appeared in 1776 in the Weekly Magazine, or, Edinburgh Amusement. “Edwin and Adela; A Tale,” one of the earliest Gothic stories, was published anonymously in 1773 in the Edinburgh Magazine and Review. As “Ruin of the House of Albert,” the story was reprinted in the nineteenth century in several collections of Gothic fiction. (London Review 5 [1777], 313-15; CR 43 [1777], 400; CR 47 [1777], 232) JC
Other Names:
- Mr. Ryan