Donald Corley

Donald Corley
Born	June 8, 1886(1886-06-08) Covington, Georgia
Died	December 11, 1955(1955-12-11) (aged 69) New York City, New York
Occupation	Short story author, illustrator, architect
Genres	Fantasy, mainstream fiction
Notable work(s)	The House of Lost Identity

Donald Corley (1886–1955) was an American author of short stories, illustrator and architect. He is chiefly remembered for his three self-illustrated books, which included a number of classic fantasy short stories.

Life and career

Corley was born June 28, 1886 in Covington, Georgia. His mother was Annie Bradshaw, who was the daughter of James Bradshaw, Presbyterian minister and President of the College for girls In Covington. He graduated from Emory University and studied architecture in Europe. By 1918, at which time he was married with a wife and child, he was established as an architect in New York City. According to his obituary he was employed for a time by the New York firm of McKim, Meade & White, "playing a part in the work of decoration of the General Post Office." He designed camouflage for New York harbor during World War I. In 1920 he was living singly as a lodger together with other writers and artists.

Corley contributed as a writer to a number of magazines from the late 1910s through the early 1930s, including Scribner's Magazine, the Pictorial Review, Harper's Magazine, and The Forum. His first collection, titled The House of Lost Identity after the initial story in it, was published by Robert M. McBride in 1927 and was reasonably well-received, particularly by James Branch Cabell, who wrote a review that was included as an introduction in later printings. His best-known work was his second book, The Fifth Son of the Shoemaker (1930). It and the subsequent The Haunted Jester (1931) appear to have sold less well, however, and afterwards he stopped publishing. He continued writing into his old age, well after abandoning his architectural profession.

As an artist Corley illustrated many magazine articles and books in addition to his own works.

He died on Sunday, December 11, 1955, at the age of 69 at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York. He was survived by his daughter Sheila and brother Neil. Neil would not claim Donald's body, so he was buried in Potters Field.

Posthumous reputation

The Haunted Jester and The House of Lost Identity were reprinted by Books for Libraries in 1970 and 1971, respectively. Not long after, Corley's work was rediscovered by Lin Carter, who anthologized two of his fantasies in Discoveries in Fantasy for the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in 1972, and another in Realms of Wizardry for Doubleday in 1976. Carter describes Corley's style as possessing a quality of "gorgeousness", which he characterizes as having "the sort of verbal richness that bejewels the pages of Clark Ashton Smith's work or the Arabian Nights ... lazy and singing, [with] a certain playfulness to it ..."

Bibliography

Books

• The House of Lost Identity (1927)
• The Fifth Son of the Shoemaker (1930)
• The Haunted Jester (1931)

Short works

• "De Senectute" (Oct. 1919)
• "The Daimyō's Bowl" (Nov. 1919; collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The Last Day of Childhood" (Nov. 1920)
• "The God from the Shelf" (Jan. 1922; collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "Ethel Wallaci, Gay Primitive" (Feb. 1922)
• "Marooned" (poem, Apr. 1922)
• "The Book of the Debts" (Aug. 1922; collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "Ex Rustico fit Nitidus" (poem, Sep. 1922)
• "The Price of Reflection" (Mar. 1923; collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The Legend of the Little Horses" (Oct. 1924; collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The Manacles of Youth" (Dec. 1924; collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The Glass Eye of Throgmorton" (Jun. 1926; collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The House of Lost Identity" (Sep. 1926; collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "Figs" (collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The Ghost-Wedding" (collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The Tale That the Ming Bell Told" (collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "The Song of the Tombelaine" (collected in The House of Lost Identity, 1927)
• "Preface to an Unwritten Novel" (May 1927)
• "The Bride's Feast" (Jan. 1928; collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Eyes of Compassion" (Jan. 1928; collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Eyes of India" (Aug. 1928)
• "The Dance of the Drowned" (Jan. 1931; collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "Seven Knights in Silver" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Red Lacquer Box of Nirr-lo-fan" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Lama, the Lady, and the Topaz" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Road to Benachie" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Troubled Promises of Kings" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "Que le Diable!" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Daughter of the Moon" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "Droit de Seigneur" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "Fifteen Annas in the Rupee" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)
• "The Bird with the Golden Beak" (collected in The Haunted Jester, 1931)

References

• Carter, Lin, ed. Discoveries in Fantasy, New York, Ballantine Books, 1972, pp. 101–103.
• Reginald, R. Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. A checklist, 1700-1974. Volume 1, Detroit: Gale Research, 1979.
• "Donald Corley" (obituary), New York Times, December 14, 1955.
• 1920 United States Federal Census.
• U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.
• U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942.

External links

• Donald Corley at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Persondata
Name	Corley, Donald
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 8, 1886
Place of birth	Covington, Georgia
Date of death	December 11, 1955
Place of death	New York City, New York