A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Harland, Henry
Harland, Henry (1861-1905).—Novelist, b. of American parentage at St. Petersburg, and ed. at Rome. Thereafter he went to Paris, and thence to America, where he graduated at Harvard, and settled in New York. His literary career falls into two distinctly marked sections, very diverse in character. During the first of these he produced, under the pseudonym of "Sidney Luska," a series of highly sensational novels, thrown off with little regard to literary quality, and which it was his wish should be forgotten; but about 1890 his aspirations underwent a complete change, and he became an enthusiast in regard to style and the mot propre. The first novels of this new era, Mademoiselle Miss (1893), Grey Roses (1895), and Comedies and Errors (1898), though obtaining the approval of the literary elect, had little general popularity; but the tide turned with the appearance of The Cardinal's Snuff-box (1900), which was widely admired. It was followed by The Lady Paramount (1901), and My Friend Prospero (1903). H. d. at San Remo after a prolonged illness.