Edmund Clerihew Bentley

Edmund Clerihew Bentley

E. C. Bentley (July 10, 1875 – March 30, 1956), was a popular English novelist and humorist of the early twentieth century, and the inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse on biographical topics.

Born in London, and educated at St Paul's School and Merton College, Oxford, Bentley worked as a journalist on several newspapers, including the "Daily Telegraph". His first published collection of poetry, titled "Biography for Beginners" (1905), popularized the clerihew form; it was followed by two other collections, in 1929 and 1939. His detective novel, "Trent's Last Case" (1913), was much praised, numbering Dorothy L. Sayers among its admirers, and with its labyrinthine and mystifying plotting can be seen as the first truly modern mystery. The success of the work inspired him, after 23 years, to write a sequel, "Trent's Own Case" (1936). There was also a book of Trent short stories, "Trent Intervenes". Several of his books were reprinted in the early 2000s by House of Stratus.

From 1936 until 1949 Bentley was president of the Detection Club and contributed to both of their radio serials broadcast in 1930 and 1931 and published in 1983 as "The Scoop and Behind The Screen". He died at the age of 80 in 1956. His son Nicolas Bentley was a famous illustrator.

External links

*gutenberg author|id=Edmund_Clerihew_Bentley|name=Edmund Clerihew Bentley
* [http://www.classiccrimefiction.com/bentleybib.htm Illustrated Bibliography of 1st Editions ]
* [http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/207.html A web page about Bentley] , with some clerihews and some biographical information on Bentley himself


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  • Edmund Clerihew Bentley — [Edmund Clerihew Bentley] (1875–1956) an English journalist who wrote detective stories and invented a form of comic verse with four lines, now called a clerihew after his middle name. Clerihews are usually about well known people. A typical… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Edmund Clerihew Bentley — E. C. Bentley (eigentlich Edmund Clerihew Bentley; * 10. Juli 1875 in London; † 30. März 1956 ebenda) war ein britischer Schriftsteller. Leben An Edmund Clerihew Bentley erinnert man sich als Erfinder des Clerihew, einer humorvollen Dichtung, ein …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Bentley, Edmund Clerihew — (1875 1956)    London born and educated at Merton College, Oxford, he studied law but abandoned it for journalism, which he practiced for most of his life. By the end of 1899 he was a regular contributor to the Speaker, the Liberal weekly. He is… …   British and Irish poets

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  • Clerihew — A clerihew is a whimsical, four line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. One of his best known is this (1905): Sir Christopher Wren Said, I am going to dine with some men. If anyone calls Say I am designing St. Paul s. [1]… …   Wikipedia

  • clerihew — /kler euh hyooh /, n. Pros. a light verse form, usually consisting of two couplets, with lines of uneven length and irregular meter, the first line usually containing the name of a well known person. [1925 30; named after E. Clerihew Bentley… …   Universalium

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