The Three Impostors; or The Transmutations

<p>Arthur Machen pseudonym of Arthur Llewellyn Jones (born March 3 1863 Caerleon Monmouthshire Eng.—died Dec. 15 1947 Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire) Welsh novelist and essayist a forerunner of 20th-century Gothic science fiction.</p><p>Machen’s work was deeply influenced by his childhood in Wales and his readings in the occult and metaphysics. He lived most of his life in poverty as a clerk teacher and translator. In 1902 he became an actor with Benson’s Shakespearean Repertory Company. And in 1912 approaching his 50th birthday he joined the staff of the London Evening News.</p><p>The quality of Machen’s writing was demonstrated early in World War I when the newspaper published the short story “The Angel of Mons” from The Bowmen and Other Legends of War (1915) which circulated widely as a true story and gave hope to thousands of soldiers in battle. Like Thomas Hardy Machen responded to the spiritual power and antiquity of the British countryside. His fantasies are often set in medieval England or Wales as in the autobiographical The Hill of Dreams (1907) which evokes ancient Roman forts and Welsh mysteries. Even his stories set in London are deeply romantic and nostalgic for a pre-industrial era. Other works include The Terror (1917) The Great God Pan and the Inmost Light (1894) Far Off Things (1922) and Things Near and Far (1923). Machen also translated Casanova’s Memoirs (12 vol. 1930). (britannica.com)</p>