200 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Feb. 15. 1913 
Frank Forester 
A Man with a Wonderful Versatility was Henry 
William Herbert 
By RALPH PENBROOK 
H enry william Herbert, of aii 
writers most gifted in his equipment to 
charm the lover of nature and field 
sports, was in his day the leader of them all. 
He was born in England in 1807 of distinguished 
parents, the son of Rev. William Herbert, Dean 
of Manchester, who was the second son of the 
second Earl of Carnarvon, a younger branch of 
the house of Pembroke. Young Herbert was 
sent to a private school near Brighton, when, 
after a year, he was transferred to Eton, at 
which school he remained five years. From 
there he entered Cains College, Cambridge. 
While at this university he was surrounded by 
a gay coterie of young commoners, who were 
attracted by the aristocratic bearing of the new 
acquisition, and who was in no wise loath to 
join their ranks. He was not in a condition 
financially to move in such fast company, and 
in order to maintain the pace they set for him, 
committed the grave error, which has before 
and since that time led to disaster; boating, 
racing, steeple chasing, shooting and kindred 
pursuits do not as a rule prove to be the ideal 
diversions for a young man immersed in the 
duties of getting an education. 
However, in young Herbert’s case, bis 
quick and accurate conception, wonderful adap¬ 
HENRY WILLIAM HERBERT (FRANK FORESTER). 
J-'rom an etching, 1S50. 
tation for study, his powers of analysis, his 
phenomenal talents in the acquisition of and the 
assimilation of knowledge, enabled him, not¬ 
withstanding all the adverse and distracting in¬ 
fluences to make such progress, astonished none 
more than the professors, so that he won sev¬ 
eral scholarships and prizes, graduating in 1831 
with a distinguished record. After spending a 
few months in England after his graduation, 
his yearnings for “fresh fields and pastures 
new” prompted him to seek them in the United 
States. 
Fie arrived in New York in the fall of that 
year. His first employment was in a private 
school, which at that time stood in Beaver 
street near Broadway, as a teacher of Greek. 
During this occupation he found time to write 
occasionally for the press, and “doing” the re¬ 
views for the old Courier and Enquirer, where 
he soon won reputation as a keen and trenchant 
reviewer. This was congenial employment and 
assisted to develop quickly a decided taste for 
literary pursuits.' In 1834 he wrote his first 
historical novel. “The Brothers; A Tale of the 
Froude,” which was favorably received and 
proved very successful. Shortly after this he 
became connected with the American Monthly 
Magazine, at times doing all the literary work. 
In this connection he was associated with 
Charles F. Hoffman, to whom the magazine 
was afterward sold. 
A little later, about 1837, he established, 
jointly with three others, a new magazine called 
the “Magnolia.” This is said to have been the 
first magazine ever printed in America on the 
system of entire originality, both of literary 
matter and illustrations, the latter being entirely 
the work of American engravers, after designs 
by American artists. It survived two years, and 
during the whole of this time a considerable 
portion of the matter was furnished by Mr. 
Herbert. Flis second attempt at novel writing 
was “Cromwell,” published by Harper, and 
scored a success, though owing to the panic 
of 1837 to 1838, it did not reach so large a sale 
as “The Brothers.” Another story followed in 
1843, a story of the English civil wars, with 
the title of “Marmaduke Wyvil,” which was 
published simultaneously in New York and 
London. It was evident from the cordiality of 
the public’s reception of Flerbert’s books that 
the new star had found a friendly and an ad¬ 
miring world to shine upon. During these few 
years of literary work the young man had 
found time to indulge his taste for field sports, 
for which the country over in Jersey and in 
Orange county. New York, offered rich and 
ample opportunity. 
It was in 1840 that he adopted the sobriquet 
Frank Forester, and over this pseudonym he 
published with marvelous rapidity the stories 
which made that name famous in his own time, 
and still remain the fascinating tales of a 
hunter who knew the life from the ground up. 
His “Ringwod the Rover,” “Warwick Wood¬ 
lands,” “My Shooting Bo.x.” “The Deer Stalk¬ 
ers,” captured young and old alike. 
It has been said of Frank Forester's stories, 
that the tendency in them to dwell with un- 
seemingly and unnecessary unction upon the 
pleasures of the table, the mysteries of the 
kitchen, and the marked flavor of the punch¬ 
bowl, detracts from their merit, and his best 
friends are willing to concede that a iust elimi- 
