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Albert Smith

Born

in Chertsey, Surrey, The United Kingdom

May 24, 1816

Died

May 23, 1860

Genre

Fiction, Travel, Humor and Comedy

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Albert Richard Smith was born in Chertsey, Surrey, on 24 May 1816, the son of a surgeon.

He studied medicine in London and in Paris, and his first literary effort was an account of his life in Paris, which appeared in 'The Mirror' and he gradually abandoned his medical studies in favour of becoming a writer. Having said that, he was originally predominantly a journalist and was one of the early contributors to 'Punch'.

He was also a regular contributor to Richard Bentley's 'Miscellany', in whose pages his first and arguably his best book, the novel 'The Adventures of Mr Ledbury', appeared in 1842. His other novels were 'The Fortunes of the Scattergood Family' (1845), 'The Marchioness of Brinvilliers: The Poisoner of the Seventeenth Century' ( Albert Richard Smith was born in Chertsey, Surrey, on 24 May 1816, the son of a surgeon.

He studied medicine in London and in Paris, and his first literary effort was an account of his life in Paris, which appeared in 'The Mirror' and he gradually abandoned his medical studies in favour of becoming a writer. Having said that, he was originally predominantly a journalist and was one of the early contributors to 'Punch'.

He was also a regular contributor to Richard Bentley's 'Miscellany', in whose pages his first and arguably his best book, the novel 'The Adventures of Mr Ledbury', appeared in 1842. His other novels were 'The Fortunes of the Scattergood Family' (1845), 'The Marchioness of Brinvilliers: The Poisoner of the Seventeenth Century' (1846), 'The Struggles and Adventures of Christopher Tadpole' (1848), and 'The Pottleton Legacy: A Story of Town and Country' (1849). In addition he wrote a novella 'The Adventures of Jack Holiday, with Something about His Sister' (1844) and a number of comic shorter works in a series of so-called natural histories. The first of these was The Natural History of The Gent' (1847).

In 1842 his first play, 'Blanche Heriot, or The Chertsey Curfew', based on a legend from his home town, was produced at the Surrey Theatre and he went on to adapt for the same theatre Charles Dickens' 'The Cricket on the Hearth' (1845) and 'The Battle of Life' (1846).

In 1849 he went on a tour to Constantinople and the Near East. On his return he published his book 'A Month at Constantinople', and shortly afterwards he appeared at Willis's Rooms in a public entertainment about his travels called 'The Overland Mail'. This proved so popular that after he ascended Mont Blanc in August 1851 he published a book about his adventures, 'The Story of Mont Blanc' (1852), he decided to produce an entertainment about the ascent. He hired the Egyptian Hall and produced an entertainment called 'Mont Blanc', which ran for many performances and became the most popular entertainment of its kind ever known, running for more than 2000 performances over six years. And in May 1854 he gave a performance before Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Osborne House.

His 'Mont Blanc' entertainment helped to popularize mountain climbing in mid-Victorian Britain and John Ruskin described him as 'the first cockney to ascend Mont Blanc' and he was one of the founder members of the Alpine Club in 1857.

In July 1858 he travelled to Hong Kong. On his return he published his book 'To China and Back' (1859), and in December 1858 he commenced at the Egyptian Hall a third entertainment, called "Mont Blanc to China", which was also extremely popular.

In 1859 he married Mary Lucy Keeley (c1830–1870), who had been an actress and was the elder daughter of the comedian Robert Keeley and his wife the distinguished actress Mary Anne Keeley.

He died from bronchitis on 23 May 1860 in Fulham, London, and was buried in Brompton Cemetery.

During his career he received great help from his brother, Arthur W.W. Smith (1825–1861), who had also been educated in medicine and who managed the entertainments at the Egyptian Hall from 1852 to 1860 and who was also Charles Dickens' reading manager for his first series of readings. He was engaged to play a similar role for a second series, but he died before the tour began.

Gerry Wolstenholme
October 2020
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Combine Editions
Albert Smith’s books

Average rating: 4.24 · 98 ratings · 14 reviews · 353 distinct works

	The Natural History of the Flirt really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2004 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mosquito Pathfinder: A Navigator's 90 WWII Bomber Operations by Albert Smith, Ian Smith 4.57 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1999 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le Mont-Blanc à la mode by Albert Smith, Michel Tailland (Translator) 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	How to Achieve Freedom from Stress by Albert Smith, Mary Hall (Editor) 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	İstanbul'da Bir Ay by Albert Smith, Mehmet Şerif Erkekli (translator) 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Natural History of 'Stuck-Up' People really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Story of Mont Blanc liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2013 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The English Hotel Nuisance it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1855 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Godiva's Heritage by Albert Smith, David Fry really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Natural History of the Idler Upon Town really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars