Background

Vance was born on September 19, 1879, in Washington, D. C. He was the only child of Wilson and Lillie (Beall) Vance. His father, who had four children by an earlier marriage, was a veteran of the Civil War. He had been managing editor of the Ohio State Journal, and between 1870 and 1881, served as Washington correspondent for that paper and for the Cincinnati Commercial, the Chicago Daily Tribune, and others. In later years, he became manager of the Square Deal.

Education

Vance was educated in the schools of several cities and in the preparatory department of the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He decided to become a commercial artist and took courses at the Art Students' League.

Career

Vance's wife was more successful as an artist than he, and after a time he went to work for a public service corporation. He began to write, and after several years of only slight success he sold a serial to Munsey's Magazine for $500. Immediately, he gave up his job and devoted himself entirely to writing. For six months he wrote short stories, and his total income for that period was sixty dollars. Then it occurred to him that the novel rather than the short story was his field, and in the next six months he produced four novels, all of which were eventually published in book form and had some success.

In 1903-04, Milady of the Mercenaries appeared as a serial in Munsey's Magazine, but the first of Vance's novels to appear as a book was Terence O'Rourke, Gentleman Adventurer (1905). This is a combination of two serials that had appeared in the Popular Magazine, the latter part being simply a collection of short stories. O'Rourke's adventures are marked by debonair heroism and sentimental romance. In 1907, with the appearance of The Brass Bowl, Vance achieved his first great success. In it crime, "high society, " and romance are mingled according to a formula that he was to follow again and again.

In 1908, came The Black Bag; in 1909, The Bronze Bell; and then a whole series of crime stories, romances, and society novels. In 1914, The Lone Wolf was published, and its hero, with his ambiguous relationship to the forces of crime and the forces of law, became the most popular of Vance's characters, figuring in half a dozen novels, in motion pictures, and in radio serials. Two of his books appeared posthumously, The Story of Strong Faces and The Lone Wolf's Last Prowl, both in 1934. His novels were usually published serially in popular magazines, and many of them were made into motion pictures.

Vance died on December 16, 1933.

Achievements

• Vance wrote short stories and verse after 1901, then composed many popular novels.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Nobody: 8 Mystery Novels (Anthology)

    (This anthology includes 8 traditional mystery novels, wri...)

  • The False Faces Further Adventures from the History of the Lone Wolf

    (This book was converted from its physical edition to the ...)

  • The Lone Wolf A Melodrama

    (This book was converted from its physical edition to the ...)

  • The Brass Bowl
  • Red Masquerade
  • Alias the Lone Wolf
  • The Destroying Angel
  • The Day of Days An Extravaganza

Personality

Vance wrote rapidly, completing a hundred-thousand-word novel in as little as two months. He never concealed the fact that he wrote solely for money, and between 1905 and 1921, according to friends, he made more than a million dollars.

He separated from his wife some years before his death and lived alone in a New York City apartment.

On December 16, 1933, he was burned to death, apparently having fallen asleep with a lighted cigarette in his hand. For a time police suspected that he had been murdered, but it was subsequently decided that death was accidental. He was survived by his widow and by a son, Wilson Beall Vance.

Interests

• Vance was fond of boating and bridge.

Connections

At the Art Students' League, Vance met Nance Elizabeth Hodges, whom he married in 1898.

Father:

Wilson Vance

Mother:

Lillie (Beall) Vance

Wife:

Nance Elizabeth Hodges