The Wondersmith

Fitz-James O'Brien (1828-1862) was an Irish author and is often considered one of the forerunners of today's Science Fiction. While he was in college he had shown an aptitude for writing verse, and two of his poems - Loch Ine and Irish Castles - were published in The Ballads of Ireland (1856). He travelled to the United States in 1852. His earliest writings in the United States were contributed to the Lantern, which was then edited by John Brougham. Subsequently he wrote for the Home Journal, the New York Times, and the American Whig Review. His first important literary connection was with Harper's Magazine, and beginning in 1853, with The Two Skulls, he contributed more than sixty articles in prose and verse to that periodical. He likewise wrote for the New York Saturday Press, Putnam's Magazine, Vanity Fair, and the Atlantic Monthly. To the latter he sent The Diamond Lens (1858) and The Wondersmith (1859), which are unsurpassed as creations of the imagination, and are unique among short magazine stories. His other works include: Horrors Unknown (1858) and What Was It? A Mystery (1859).