Robert W. Chambers

Robert W. Chambers (1865-1933) is one of the most original authors of the turn of the 19th to the 20th century in American literature. Author of short stories, novellas, and novels, Chambers was also a painter and illustrator. Born in Brooklyn, New York, into a wealthy family, Chambers studied art in Paris. School of Fine Arts and in Académie Julien (1886-1893) having participated regularly since 1889 in Salon until his return to New York. He contributed illustrations to widely circulated magazines such as Life, Vogue and TruthFor reasons unknown, he abandoned painting and illustration to dedicate himself to writing fiction. His early short stories and novellas reveal influences from the fin-de-siècle currents in vogue in Europe: decadentism, symbolism, and the authors of... yellow book in England or the first signs of a Germanic school of expressionism. After some years, Chambers focused his writing on historical novels and, to supplement his income, on romantic novels that became best-sellers.