Works by Harry Collingwood


This page list the published work of Harry Collingwood, the pseudonym for William Joseph Cosens Lancaster. The 44 novels and the stories are organised by year of first publication, but the tables can be sorted interactively.

Novels

NoYearTitlePagesInitial UK PublisherUK illustratorIllustrations
11878The Secret of the Sands287+289Griffith and Farran - LondonNil
21884The Pirate Island; a story of the South Pacific339Blackie and Son LimitedC. J. Staniland and J. R. Wells8
21884Under the Meteor Flag: Log of a Midshipman during the French Revolutionary War326Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.M. L. P.1
41885The Voyage of the 'Aurora'307Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.1, 6
51885The Congo Rovers; a Story of the Slave Squadron352Blackie and Son LimitedJohann Schönberg8 in Burt Ed.
61886The Log of the Flying Fish; a story of Aerial and Submarine Peril and Adventure384Blackie and Son LimitedGordon Browne12
71887The Rover's Secret; a tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba352Blackie and Son LimitedW Christian Symons3
81888The Missing Merchantman352Blackie and Son LimitedW. H. Overend4
91892The Doctor of the 'Juliet'360MethuenGordon Browne5
101894The Cruise of the 'Esmeralda'384SPCKW. H. Overend4
111895The Pirate Slaver; a story of the West African Coast384SPCKW. H. Overend
121896Jack Beresford’s Yarn401SPCK
131896The Log of a Privateersman376Blackie and Son LimitedWilliam Rainey12
141897For Treasure Bound395Griffith Farran Browne & Co. LtdA front piece by C. J. de Lacy?1
151897The Homeward Voyage383SPCKW. H. Overend4
161898A Pirate of the Caribbees343Griffith Farran Browne & Co. LtdC. J. de Lacy
171898An Ocean Chase324Blackie and Son LimitedJ. B. Greene
181899The CastawaysGriffith Farran Browne & Co. LtdPercy F. S. Spence
191906Across the Spanish Main351Blackie and Son LimitedWilliam Rainey6
201906Dick Leslie's Luck383SPCKHarrold Piffard
211907Geoffrey Harrington’s Adventures511SPCKHarrold Piffard6 col.
221907With Airship and Submarine376Blackie and Son LimitedEdward S. Hodgson
231908Blue and Grey317Cassell & Co.E. S. Hardy
241908A Middy in Command; a tale of the Slave Squadron384Blackie and Son LimitedEdward S. Hodgson
251908Under the Chilian Flag; a tale of war between Chili and Peru280Blackie and Son LimitedWilliam Rainey1
261909Harry Escombe; a tale of adventure in Peru303Blackie and Son LimitedVictor Prout
271909The Cruise of the 'Thetis'; a tale of the Cuban Insurrection367Blackie and Son LimitedCyrus Cuneo4
281910A Middy of the Slave Squadron352Blackie and Son LimitedWilliam Rainey
291910Overdue; the story of a missing ship287Blackie and Son LimitedW. H. Holloway
301911A Middy of the King368Blackie and Son LimitedEdward S. Hodgson
311911The Adventures of Dick Maitland; a tale of unknown Africa288Blackie and Son LimitedAlec Ball
321912Two Gallant Sons of Devon364Blackie and Son LimitedEdward S. Hodgson
331912A Strange Cruise296Blackie and Son LimitedArchibald Webb4
341913Through Veld and Forest351Blackie and Son LimitedArchibald Webb
351913Turned Adrift295Blackie and Son LimitedEdward S. Hodgson4
361914The Cruise of the 'Nonsuch' Buccaneer315SPCKJohn Williamson
371914The First Mate288Blackie and Son LimitedEdward S. Hodgson
381914A Chinese Command; a Story of Adventures in Eastern Seas352Blackie and Son LimitedArchibald Webb
391915In Search of El Dorado312Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.Oscar Wilson
401916No confirmation of publication date found in newspaper archivesUnder the Ensign of the Rising Sun348Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.Savile Lumley5
411922The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn317Blackie and Son LimitedC. M. Padday
421923The Wreck of the Andromeda288Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.L Parker
431923No confirmation of publication date found in newspaper archivesThe Cruise of the 'Flying Fish', the Airship-submarine314Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.M. L. P.2
441925Published as a serial story in 1912.In the Power of the Enemy 282Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.M. L. P.4

American Publishers

In some cases, as with Griffith & Farran and, the UK publishers seem to have distributed the books under their own imprint in the United States through an agent. E. P. Dutton acted for Griffith & Farran. SPCK worked through E. and J. B. Young initially, and later through E.S. Gorham. The books published by Blackie in the UK were often published by Scribner and Welford in the US. This firm was set up by Charles Scribner and Charles Welford specifically to import or reprint foreign books, and were the largest such firm in the US. In January 1891, Scribner & Welford was subsumed under Charles Scribner's Sons which then took over publishing the Collingwood Blackie novels in the US. Other publishers were also involved in publishing Collingwood's work in the US, particularly A. L. Burt who produced cheap editions sometimes with fewer illustrations. Piracy was also a problem in the US market. Dizer states that of the five copies of The Congo Rovers he holds, three are pirate editions. Given the mix of importation, local publishing, and piracy, it is difficult to build a definitive list of us editions.

Piracy in the UK

The following apology appeared in September 1910 in book trade publications: Messrs. James Henderson and Sons, Ltd., of Red Lion House, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C., beg to apologise to Messrs. Blackie & Son, Ltd., Publishers, of London and Glasgow, for having unwittingly published a story named "The Cruise of the Flying-Fish," by "Colin Dawson," the same having been copied by its ostensible author from the "Log of the Flying-Fish," written by Harry Collingwood, and being a grave infringement of Messrs. Blackie & Son, Ltd., copyright in that work. Messrs. James Henderson & Sons, Ltd., deeply regret the circumstances and have caused the infringing work to be withdrawn from circulation.

Potential additional works

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that Lancaster wrote more than fifty books for boys, Current listings of Titles by Harry Collingwood on the British Library, Project Gutenberg, the Internet Archive, Abe Books, the list provided by Dizer, and Wikisource list only 44 in total, and two of these are nearly identical, with To Treasure Bound being an slightly edited reissue of The Secret of the Sands. Additional potential titles are:
Some titles are known by more than one name. For example, In Search of El Dorado is sometimes knows as A pair of Adventurers in Search of El Dorado. Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun is also known as Under a Foreign Flag. There is also room for confusion among the titles. The First Mate is subtitled The Story of A Strange Cruise but this should not be confused with A Strange Cruise. There is also at least one omnibus volume containing With Airship and Submarine, Two Gallant Sons of Devon, and A Chinese Command.

Misattributed work

Leisure Lyrics by a busy man by William John Lancaster is frequently misattributed to WJC Lancaster. However, a quick perusal of the text shows that the author of Leisure Lyrics used the initials WJL, was a long-time employee of the Prudential Assurance Company, had several children, and lived in Putney. These facts fit William John Lancaster rather than WJC Lancaster.

Re-issued work

Many of Lancaster's novels were reprinted multiple times. The lists 26 different print editions for that title held by libraries, one of the most popular of his novels. This does not mean that there are 26 different print editions held by libraries as data entry errors can read to duplicated entries for the same text. However, there are at least 16 distinct editions listed. WorldCat libraries hold editions issued by Blackie of London in 1885, 1893, 1902, 1905, 1923, and 1934. The British Library holds Blackie editions. WorldCat aggregates the holdings of libraries, so it is perfectly possible that there were other editions that are not currently held in libraries, either not having being purchased by them, or having being lost or disposed of in the last hundred and thirty years. The shows 20 print editions for that title.
Normally the reprinted books bore the same title as the original and had a completely identical text. For Treasure Bound is an exception to this rule. It is a single volume re-issue of “The Secret of the Sands or the ‘Water Lily’ and her crew”, the first book by Lancaster. The 1879 edition, published by Griffith and Farran, was in two volumes. Most of the chapters in For Treasure Bound are the same as in The Secret of the Sands, word for word. Most of the changes are in the restructuring and tightening of Chapter Three. One change throughout the book is the replacement of "etc." with "etcetera". The subtitle for Chapter 12 was changed from A Miracle to A Mirage. Other than this, the two books have the same plot, characters, dialogue, incidents etc.
Demonstrating the complexity of the multiple editions, The Secret of the Sands was also issued as a New Edition in a single volume by Griffith, Farran, Okeden, & Welsh in 1888, but seems to have exactly the same text as the 1879 edition. For Treasure Bound was reissued in 1910 as a New Edition with illustrations in colour by no less an artist than Walter Ernest Webster. Neither the 1879 nor the 1888 editions of The Secret of the Sands had any illustrations. The 1888 edition of For Treasure Bound had a frontpiece, and the 1910 edition had four colour plates and a full colour inset in the front cover.

Themes in the novels

The Robinsonade, the castaway or desert island genre of fiction influence by Robinson Crusoe, developed rapidly as part of the mid-victorian writing boom. Boehmer states that Motifs of shipwreck, resourceful settlement and cultivation, treasure, slaves and the fear of cannibalism resurfaced time and again in boy's stories. Baker and Womak note that other Victorian writers such as Marryat, Ballantyne, and W. G. Kingston also presented the protagonists of their novels with challenges such as surviving shipwreck, fighting with savages or pirates. Collingwood's plots include not only these elements of the Robinsonade, but also his own hobbies, such as sailing and yacht-design, in the novels. Note that grey cells in the following table mean that no copy of the book is to hand to check the plot, and the plot items listed are related in reviews of the book in question.
No.YearTitle
11878The Secret of the Sands
21884The Pirate Island
31884Under the Meteor Flag
41885The Voyage of the 'Aurora'
51885The Congo Rovers
61886The Log of the Flying Fish
71887The Rover's Secret
81888The Missing Merchantman
91892The Doctor of the 'Juliet'
101894The Cruise of the 'Esmeralda'
111895The Pirate Slaver
121896Jack Beresford’s Yarn
131896The Log of a Privateersman
141897For Treasure Bound
151897The Homeward Voyage
161898A Pirate of the Caribbees
171898An Ocean Chase
181899The Castaways
191906Across the Spanish Main
201906Dick Leslie's Luck
211907Geoffrey Harrington’s Adventures
221907With Airship and Submarine
231908Blue and Grey
241908A Middy in Command
251908Under the Chilian Flag
261909Harry Escombe
271909The Cruise of the 'Thetis'
281910A Middy of the Slave Squadron
291910Overdue
301911A Middy of the King
311911The Adventures of Dick Maitland
321912Two Gallant Sons of Devon
331912A Strange Cruise
341913Through Veld and Forest
351913Turned Adrift
361914The Cruise of the 'Nonsuch' Buccaneer
371914The First Mate
381914A Chinese Command
391915In Search of El Dorado
401916Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun
411922The Strange Adventures of Eric Blackburn
421923The Wreck of the Andromeda
431923The Cruise of the 'Flying Fish', the Airship-submarine
441925In the Power of the Enemy

Short Works

YearTitleTypeJournal or BookDateStart p.PagesIllustrator
1880A Perilous Climb; The Lightkeeper’s StoryShort StoryUnion Jack 1:131880-03-251983H. Petherick
1880The Diver’s Story; A Thrilling Narrative of Adventure in the Indian SeasSerial Pt.1Union Jack 1:151880-04-082284H. Petherick
1880The Diver’s Story; A Thrilling Narrative of Adventure in the Indian SeasSerial Pt.2Union Jack 1:171880-04-222632
1880Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 1:291880-07-154613
1880Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 1:341880-08-195396
1880Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 1:391880-09-236213
1880Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 2:431880-10-21472
1880Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 2:461880-11-11952
1880Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 2:501880-12-091592
1881Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 2:551881-01-132391
1881Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 2:591881-02-153031
1881Boat-Building and Boat-SailingColumnUnion Jack 2:631881-03-103663
1881An Eventful RideSerial Pt.1Union Jack 2:831881-07-286774H. Petherick
1881An Eventful RideSerial Pt.1Union Jack 2:841881-08-046934H. Petherick
1882The Phantom Pilot: A Christmas StoryShort StoryOld England's Flag 18821882-11John Jellico
1896Unknown titleSaid to be SerialChums Yearly Volume for 18961896
1898The Slavers RevengeShort StoryYule Logs, Being Longmans's Xmas Annual for 1898 edited by G.A. Henty, Longman, London189834439Trevor Haddon
1899Samana KeyShort StoryYule-Tide Yarns, ed by G.A. Henty, published by Longmans, London189926828Lancelot Speed
1918Peril and Pluck on the Grand BanksShort StoryChums 26:13251918-02-022572W. G. Whitaker