Facts about Fiction (report 4 december 1893)
Facts about Fiction is an article published in The Leeds Mercury on 4 december 1893.
Report of the lecture "Facts about Fiction" given by Arthur Conan Doyle on 3 december 1893 at the Coliseum Theatre (Leeds, UK). Conan Doyle did the same lecture in Leeds on 15 november 1893, see report.
Facts about Fiction
The popularity of Dr. A. Conan Doyle, the author of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," was shown last evening by the large assembly who crowded the Coliseum to hear him (for the second time in Leeds) relate his "Facts About Fiction." He chiefly confined his observations to the younger writers, amongst whom he touched upon R. L. Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, J. M. Barrie, Olive Schreiner, Bret Harte, Robert Barr, Gilbert Parker, Quiller Couch, and Jerome K. Jerome. In the literature of our country, he said, lies the most permanent of its glories ; we had assets which we could not lose. Although we had at present no Thackeray or Dickens, the average of authors remained as high as ever. Fiction had become more of an art than it used to be, and the average author now possessed a clearer conception of the laws governing it. During the evening Dr. Doyle briefly reviewed some of the principal writings of the authors referred to. He wasted few words in his narration of facts, and his criticisms were characterised with a moderation and beauty of style that must have pleased every one present. The lecture was given under the auspices of the Sunday Lecture Society.
