Sir Henry Rider Haggard (June 22, 1856 – May 14, 1925), born in Bradenham , Norfolk, England, was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in locations considered exotic by readers in his native England.

Haggard had some firsthand experience of these locations, thanks to his extensive travels. He first traveled to Natal Colony in 1875, as secretary to the colonial Governor Bulwer. It was in this role that Haggard was present in Pretoria for the official announcement of the British annexation of the Boer Republic of the Transvaal. In fact, Haggard was forced to read out much of the proclamation following the loss of voice of the official originally entrusted with the duty.

In 1878 he became Registrar of the High Court in the Transvaal, in the region that was to become South Africa. During his time there he was exposed to the Zulu culture, and is said to have had an long-lasting affair with an African woman. However, he was eventually to return to England to find a wife, bringing Mariana Louisa Margitson back to Africa with him as a bride.

Returning to England in the 1880s, the couple settled in Ditchingham, Norfolk. Later he lived in Kessingland and had connections with the church in Bungay. He turned to the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1884. His practice of law was somewhat desultory, as much of his time was taken up by the writing of novels.

While his novels contain many of the strong preconceptions common to the culture of British colonialism, they are unusual for the degree of sympathy with which he often treats the native populations. Africans often serve heroic roles in his novels, though the protagonists are typically European. Possibly due to his personal history, his writings even deal with cross-racial romance, usually a taboo subject at the time.

He is most famous as the author of the best-selling novel King Solomon's Mines, as well as many others such as She, Ayesha (sequel to She), Allan Quatermain (sequel to King Solomon's Mines), and the epic viking romance, Eric Brighteyes.

Though Haggard is no longer as popular as he was when his books appeared, some of his characters have had a notable impact on early-twentieth-century thought. Ayesha, the female protagonist of She, was even cited by both Sigmund Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams and by Carl Jung as a female prototype.

The mystery writer Elizabeth Peters has cited Haggard as a creative influence, particularly concerning her Amelia Peabody novel The Last Camel Died at Noon .

Chronology of works

• Dawn (1884)
• The Witch's Tale (1884)
• King Solomon's Mines (1885)
• She (1887)
• Jess (1887)
• Allan Quartermain (1887)
• A Tale of Three Lions (1887)
• Mr. Meeson's Will (1888)
• Maiwa's Revenge (1888)
• My Fellow Laborer and the Wreck of the Copeland (1888)
• Colonel Quaritch, V.C. (1888)
• Cleopatra (1889)
• Allan's Wife (1889)
• Beatrice (1890)
• The World's Desire (1890) (co-written with Andrew Lang)
• Eric Brighteyes (1891)
• Nada the Lily (1892)
• Montezuma's Daughter (1893)
• The People of the Mist (1894)
• Joan Haste (1895)
• Heart of the World (1895)
• Church and State (1895)
• The Wizard (1896)
• Dr. Therne (1898)
• Swallow (1898)
• A Farmer's Year (1899)
• The Last Boer War (1899)
• The Spring of Lion (1899)
• Montezuma's Daughter (1899)
• Black Heart, White Heart (1900)
• The New South Africa (1900)
• A Winter Pilgrimage (1901)
• Lysbeth (1901)
• Pearl Maiden (1903)
• Stella Fregelius (1904)
• The Brethren (1904)
• The Poor and the Land (1905)
• Ayesha (1905)
• A Gardener's Year (1905)
• Report of Salvation Army Colonies (1905)
• The Way of the Spirit (1906)
• Benita (1906)
• Fair Margaret (1907)
• The Ghost Kings (1908)
• The Yellow God (1908)
• The Lady of Blossholme (1909)
• Queen Sheba's Ring (1910)
• Regeneration: An account of the social work of the salvation army (1910)
• Morning Star (1910)
• Red Eve (1911)
• The Mahatma and the Hare (1911)
• Rural Denmark (1911)
• Marie (1912)
• Child of Storm (1913)
• The Wanderer's Necklace (1914)
• A call to Arms (1914)
• The Holy Flower (1915)
• After the War Settlement and Employment of Ex-Service Men (1916)
• The Ivory Child (1916)
• Finished (1917)
• Love Eternal (1918)
• Moon of Israel (1918)
• When the World Shook (1919)
• The Ancient Allan (1920)
• Smith and the Pharoahs (1920)
• She and Allan (1921)
• The Virgin of the Sun (1922)
• Wisdom's Daughter (1923)
• Heu-Heu (1924)
• Queen of the Dawn (1925)
• The Days of my Life: An autobiography of Sir H. Rider Haggard (1926)
• Treasure of the Lake (1926)
• Allan and the Ice Gods (1927)
• Mary of Marion Isle (1929)
• Belshazzar (1930)

External link

• Project Gutenberg e-texts of works by H. Rider Haggard