Elizabeth Louisa Moresby

Elizabeth Louisa Moresby (1862 – 3 January 1931) was a British-born novelist who became the first prolific, female fantasy writer in Canada.^[1]

The daughter of the Royal Navy Captain John Moresby^[2], Elizabeth Louisa Moresby lived and traveled widely in the East, in Egypt, India, China, Tibet and Japan but settled eventually in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1919^[2].

Moresby was already sixty years old by the time she started writing her novels, which commonly had an oriental setting, and then became a prolific author. She wrote under various pseudonyms, depending on the genre. As Louis Moresby, she wrote nonfiction, including a history of Egypt. As E. Barrington, she wrote historical romances, including a tale of Napoleon and Josephine (1927). As Lily Adams Beck, she wrote stories set in Asia and influenced by Oriental philosophy and religion,^[3] sometimes in the style of Lafcadio Hearn. ^[4] She was also known as Elizabeth Louisa Beck, Eliza Louisa Moresby Beck and Lily Moresby Adams.^[1] She was a staunch Buddhist and strict vegetarian, highly critical of the materialism of the West.^[3] Beck's stories collected in The Opener of the Way feature an occult detective inspired by the "John Silence" stories of Algernon Blackwood. ^[4]

According to the historian Charles Lillard, she was also a distinguished writer of esoteric works such as The Story of Oriental Philosophy (1928) and The Splendor of Asia (1926) which attempted to interpret the life and teachings of Buddha. Her romance entitled The House of Fulfillment: The Romance of a Soul (1927) incorporates some of the Indian philosophy of the Upanishads to explain supernatural phenomena.

She began her career by publishing stories in The Atlantic Monthly, Asia, and the Japanese Gassho. These were gathered into a popular collection in 1926.^[1]

Now sometimes associated with the rise of Theosophy, Lily Adams Beck continued to write fantastical novels of faraway places until her death in 1931, in Kyoto, Japan. She wrote most of her 30-odd books in Victoria in less than ten years.^[1]

1 Books
2 References
3 External links

Books

As Lily Adams Beck

Lily Adams Beck (1922), The Ninth Vibration and Other Stories, New York: Dodd, Mead .
It includes The Ninth Vibration and The Interpreter.
Lily Adams Beck (1922), Dreams and Delights .
Lily Adams Beck (1922), The Key of Dreams
Lily Adams Beck (1923), The Perfume of the Rainbow .
Lily Adams Beck (1923), The Treasure of Ho, A Romance, London: Collins .
Lily Adams Beck (1925), The Ways of the Stars, A Romance of Reincarnation, New York: Dodd, Mead .
Lily Adams Beck (1926), The Splendour of Asia .
Lily Adams Beck (1927), Way of Power: Studies in the Occult .
Lily Adams Beck (1928?), The Story of Oriental Philosophy .
This book can sometimes be found catalogued as published in year 1923. See, for instance, the Catalogue of the British Library entry.
Lily Adams Beck (1929), The Garden of Vision .
Lily Adams Beck (1930), The Openers of the Gate, Stories of the Occult, New York: Cosmopolitan Book Co. .
It includes The Openers of the Gate, Lord Killary, How Felicity Came Home, Waste Manor, The Mystery of Iniquity, Many Waters Cannot Quench Love, The Horoscope, The Thug, Hell, The Man Who Saw.

As E. Barrington

E. Barrington (1922), The Ladies
E. Barrington (1923), The Chaste Diana .
E. Barrington (1924), The Divine Lady .
E. Barrington (1924), The Gallants .
E. Barrington (1925), Glorious Apollo, Dodd, Mead & Co. .
E. Barrington (1926), The Exquisite Perdita .
E. Barrington (1927), The Thunderer. A Romance of Napoleon and Josephine, Dodd, Mead & Co. .
E. Barrington(?) (1927), The House of Fulfillment. The Romance of a Soul, London: T. Fisher Unwin .
E. Barrington (1928), The Empress of Hearts .
E. Barrington (1928), Captain Java .
E. Barrington(?) (1929), The Laughing Queen. A Romance of Cleopatra., Dodd, Mead & Co. .

As L. Moresby

L. Moresby (1926), The Glory of Egypt, George H. Doran Co. .
L. Moresby (1930), Duel of the Queens .
L. Moresby (1931), The Irish Beauties .
L. Moresby (1931), The Joyous Story of Astrid .
L. Moresby (1932), Anne Boleyn .
L. Moresby (1932), The Great Romantic .

^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e BC BookWorld, a site dedicated to provide information about authors and books pertaining to British Columbia.
^ ^a ^b Clara Thomas, Canadian Novelists 1920-1945, Longmans, Green and Comoany, Toronto, 1946 p. 10-11
^ ^a ^b History For Sale, brief but seemingly good biography of Lily Adams Beck.
^ ^a ^b John Grant and John Clute, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, "Beck, L(ily) Adams", pp. 99-100, ISBN 0-312-19869-8

Persondata
Name	Moresby, Elizabeth Louisa
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1862
Place of birth
Date of death	3 January 1931
Place of death