The Slave of the Lamp

The Slave of the Lamp

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Title: The Slave Of The Lamp
Author: Henry Seton Merriman
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THE SLAVE OF THE LAMP
BY
HENRY SETON MERRIMAN

PREFACE
Henry Seton Merriman published his first novel, "Young Mistley," in
1888, when he was twenty-six years old. Messrs. Bentley's reader, in
his critique on the book, spoke of its "powerful situations" and
unconventionality of treatment: and, while dwelling at much greater
length on its failings, declared, in effect, its faults to be the right faults,
and added that, if "Young Mistley" was not in itself a good novel, its
author was one who might hereafter certainly write good novels.
"Young Mistley" was followed in quick succession by "The Phantom
Future," "Suspense," and "Prisoners and Captives." Some years later,
considering them crude and immature works, the author, at some
difficulty and with no little pecuniary loss, withdrew all these four first
books from circulation in England. Their republication in America he
was powerless to prevent. He therefore revised and abbreviated them,
"conscious," as he said himself in a preface, "of a hundred defects
which the most careful revision cannot eliminate." He was perhaps then,

as he was ever, too severe a critic of his own works. But though these
four early books have, added to youthful failings, the youthful merits of
freshness, vigour and imagination, their author was undoubtedly right
to suppress them. By writing them he learnt, it is true, the technique of
his art: but no author wishes--or no author should wish--to give his
copy-books to the world. It is as well then--it is certainly as he himself
desired--that these four books do not form part of the present edition. It
may, however, be noted that both "Young Mistley" and "Prisoners and
Captives" dealt, as did "The Sowers" hereafter, with Russian subjects:
"Suspense" is the story of a war-correspondent in the Russo-Turkish
War of 1877: and "The Phantom Future" is the only novel of
Merriman's in which the scene is laid entirely in his own country.
In 1892 he produced "The Slave of the Lamp," which had run serially
through the Cornhill Magazine, then under the editorship of Mr. James
Payn.
To Mr. Payn, Merriman always felt that he owed a debt of gratitude for
much shrewd and kindly advice and encouragement. But one item of
that advice he neglected with, as Mr. Payn always generously owned,
great advantage. Mr. Payn believed that the insular nature of the
ordinary Briton made it, as a general rule, highly undesirable that the
scene of any novel should be laid outside the British Isles.
After 1892 all Merriman's books, with the single exception of
"Flotsam," which appeared serially in _Longman's Magazine_, and was,
at first, produced in book form by Messrs. Longman, were published by
the firm of Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co.
His long and serene connection with the great and honourable house
which had produced the works of such masters of literature as
Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, and Robert Browning, was always a
source of sincere pleasure to him. He often expressed the opinion that,
from the moment when, as an inexperienced and perfectly unknown
author, he sent "Young Mistley" to Messrs. Bentley, until the time
when, as a very successful one, he was publishing his later novels with
Messrs. Smith, Elder, he had invariably received from his publishers an
entirely just and upright treatment.

Also in 1892 he produced "From One Generation to Another": and, two
years later, the first of his really successful novels, "With Edged
Tools." It is the only one of his books