Short Fiction

Edgar Saltus was a writer of decadent fiction with a pessimistic bent and characterized by a wit reminiscent of Oscar Wilde. After his 1887 debut with Mr. Incoul’s Misadventure he wrote many novels, novellas, and short stories in rapid succession, and to great success. Critics condemned his works as immoral and the public was scandalized, but for a while, Edgar Saltus was infamous. His stories weave a common thread: love, lust, greed, distrust, and deceit among the upper classes of late nineteenth-century New York, who also regularly retreat to Paris, the Riviera, London, and other destinations frequented by the era’s super-rich.

There are outliers. “A Transient Guest” finds its protagonist in the Dutch East-Indies. “Mary Magdalen,” an historical novella, recounts the final days of Jesus Christ through the perspective of the title character. And although “Madam Sapphira” is more in line with his other works, its story bears striking similarities to the circumstances surrounding Saltus’s highly publicized divorce from his first wife. Written to clear his name and that of his corespondents, its publication had the opposite effect.

After 1895, the name Edgar Saltus began to lose its luster. He continued to write and publish, but less often and to much less attention. At the same time, the cynical worldview that defined his early output shifted. Inspired by religious movement of Theosophy, he gradually became milder and more optimistic, the effect of which is noticeable in his later work.

During this second half of his career Saltus frequently reused and recycled ideas, phrases, passages, and even whole plots. This collection has been carefully edited to avoid including such obviously redundant material and to avoid overlap between these stories and other Standard Ebooks titles.

This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.