The Man Who Lost Himself (1920) is a novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole.
Although he is more widely known for his novel The Blue Lagoon (1908),
which inspired the 1980 hit drama starring Brooke Shields, Stacpoole was
a prolific bestselling author whose dozens of literary works continue to
inspire and entertain a century after they first appeared in print.
"With no financial foundation, Victor and a Philadelphia gentleman had
competed for a contract to supply the British Government with Harveyised
steel struts, bolts, and girders; he had come over to London to press
the business; he had interviewed men in brass hats, slow moving men who
had turned him over to slower moving men. [...] [T]his morning their
tender had been rejected." In this thrilling tale of mistaken identity,
Stacpoole moves away from his favorite setting of the South Pacific to
the frenzied streets and barrooms of London's financial district. There,
a desperate businessman learns that his proposal to secure a lucrative
contract has been denied. With no money and a slew of creditors to
appease, Victor Jones heads for the hotel bar to drown his sorrows. In
his bleakest moment, he meets his doppelganger, an Englishman named Mr.
Rochester. After a night of hard drinking, Jones awakens in a strange
bedroom surrounded by the finest furniture money can buy. Before he can
gather his senses, a servant enters with the paper and greets him as the
Earl of Rochester. What he learns next will change his life forever.
The Man Who Lost Himself was adapted into a 1920 silent film as well
as a 1941 Hollywood feature starring Brian Aherne and Kay Francis. With
a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this
edition of Henry De Vere Stacpoole's The Man Who Lost Himself is a
classic of British literature reimagined for modern readers.
