Richard Pryce

Richard Pryce was an English novelist, author of Christopher, David Penstephen and other works of fiction. He was also a playwright and wrote a number of one act and three-act plays. Disappointed with his cold reception by the public in Britain, despite glowing reviews, he wrote very little after the outbreak of the First World War.

Early life

Pryce was born in Boulogne, France on 14 May 1864. He was the second son of Colonel Price and Sarah Beatrice Hamilton. He was educated at Leamington in Warwickshire. He started life as a junior clerk in the Bank of England, before his first novel, An Evil Spirit was published in 1887.

Novels

Library Hub Discover lists 18 novels by Pryce. This list is not necessarily exhaustive.

Ser.	Year	Title	Publisher	Pages	Notes
1	1887	An Evil Spirit	T. Fisher Unwin, London	2 v., 8º
2	1889	The Ugly Story of Miss Wetherby	Walter Scott, London	198 p.
3	1890	Just impediment	Ward & Downey, London	2 v., 8º
4	1891	Deck-chair Stories	Ward & Downey, London	245 p., 8º
5	1891	The Quiet Mrs. Fleming	Methuen, London	258 p., 8º
6	1892	Miss Maxwell's affections : a novel	Chatto & Windus, London	2 v., 8º
7	1892	Time and the woman	Methuen, London	2 v., 8º
8	1894	Winifred Mount : a novel	Methuen, London	2 v., 8º
9	1895	The burden of a woman	A. D. Innes, London	315 p., 8º
10	1897	Elementary Jane	Hutchinson, London	, 331 p., 8º
11	1900	Jezebel	Hutchinson, London	352 p., 8º
12	1904	The Successor	Hutchinson, London	332 p., 8º
13	1907	Towing-Path Bess, and other stories	Chapman & Hall, London	249 p., 8º
14	1911	Christopher	Hutchinson & Co, London	343 p., 8º
15	1916	David Penstephen	Methuen & Co, London	364 p., 8º
16	1918	The Statue in the Wood	W. Collins Sons & Co, London	305 p., 8º
17	1924	Romance and Jane Weston	W. Collins, London	291 p., 8º
18	1932	Morgan's yard	W. Collins, London	288 p., 8º

Plays

Library Hub Discover list ten plays by Pryce, or collections of plays. to which he contributed. Kemp notes that most of his plays were adaptations of the works of other authors. The following list is not exhaustive as at least one play by Pryce was found which was not listed in the catalogues collated by Jisc, and press references have been found to other plays.

Serial	Year	Title	Publisher	Pages	Notes
1	1904	'Op-o'-me-thumb : a play in one act	Samuel French, London	25 p., 8º
2	1904	Saturday to Monday : an irresponsible comedy in three acts
3	1906	A privy council : a comedy in one act	Samuel French, London	34, 6 p., musical score, 8º
4	1907	The dumb-cake. A play in one act	Samuel French, London	12º
4	1910	Little Mrs. Cummin : a comedy in three acts	Samuel French, London	97, 1 p., 8º
6	1910	The visit : a play in one act	Samuel French, London	24 p., 8º
7	1914	Helen with the high hand : a play in three acts	Samuel French, London	103, 5 p., 8º
8	1920	The Old House
9	1924	One-act plays of to-day	Harrap, London
10	1925	One-act plays of to-day : second series	Harrap, London
11	1935	Frolic Wind. A play in three acts.	Victor Gollancz, London	127 p., 8º
12	1935	Famous plays of 1934-5	Victor Gollancz, London	695 p., 8º

Later life

Pryce lived most of his life in the West End of London. He lived in one of the most quaint and miniature houses in London, fashioned out of a garage and two rooms which had been converted into five rooms and a bathroom.
This was The Cottage, 4 Groom Place, Belgrave Square, London, where Pryce was still living at his death in 1928. His house was filled with finds from the Caledonian Market, to which Pryce made a visit every Friday morning.
Pryce died in the Royal Avenue Nursing Home in Chelsea, London, on 30 May 1942. His estate was valued at £2,500 14s. 1d.

Assessment

Sadlier stated that, despite praise from reviewers, Pryce never had the success in Britain that he deserved. David Penstephen was widely read in the United States, but Pryce's self-assurance was shaken by the neglect he suffered at the hands of the British public.. He was much more popular in the United States and got many letters from readers there. Kemp says that Discouraged by the lack of public interest in his work, though reviews were warm, Pryce had more or less given up writing fiction by the outbreak of the First World War. However, the British Library catalogue contains works after this date. The Pall Mall Gazette said that ''Mr. Pryce's work is always highly finished, and very interesting on its technical side. He might almost be called "a writers’ writer."''