Henry William Herbert (April 3, 1807 – May 17, 1858), pen name Frank Forester, was an English novelist and writer on sport.
The son of the Hon. and Rev. William Herbert, Dean of Manchester (himself the son of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon), Herbert was born in London.
He was educated at Eton College and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1830.[1] To escape his debts, he emigrated to the United States, and from 1831 to 1839 taught Greek in a private school in New York City. In 1833 he started the American Monthly Magazine, which he edited, in conjunction with A. D. Patterson, till 1835.
In 1834 he published his first novel, The Brothers: a Tale of the Fronde, which was followed by a number of others that achieved popularity including:
He also wrote a series of historical studies, including:
In addition to these works, he is best known for his works on sport, published under the pseudonym of Frank Forester. These include:
He also translated many of the novels of Eugène Sue and Alexandre Dumas, père into English. Herbert was a man of varied accomplishments, but of somewhat dissipated habits. He eventually committed suicide in New York.
He contributed to one of the early sporting magazines in the United States, the Spirit of the Times.[2]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.