Der Zigeuner. Eine Erzählung. Bändchen 1 - 6 in 2 Bänden.

152, 171, 160, 162, 163, 166 S. Spannender Sensationsroman mit Kolportage-Elementen. Ließe sich auch als Kriminalroman bezeichnen. Zeit: ca. 1780. Ort: eine englsche Grafschaft (mit kleine Ausflügen ins Nordamerika des engllisch-französischen Krieges.) Ein Geheimnis umd die Ermordung eines englischen Peers wird 20 Jahre später gelüftet. Der Täter fühlt sich bedroht, als 2 Zeugen des Mordes auftauchen, und möchte sie beseitigen. Der eine Zeuge ist ein Zigeuner, dem durch gefälschte Dokumente und gekaufte Aussagen der Prozess gemacht werden soll. Pharold, der Zigeuneranführer, wird gejagt und durch Verrrat in eine Falle gelockt. 3 Morde werden ihm vorgeworfen. Der Höhepunkt des spannenden Romans ist ein Prozess, in dem sich Pharold reinwaschen kann, aber freiwillig sein Leben endet. Das Ende bietet eine Überraschung. Der Prozess ist gleichzeitig ein Gericht gegen das englische Rechtssystem, in dem auf Grund vorn Vorurteilen "Recht" gesprochen wird. Der vorurteilsfreie Blick des Erzählers auf Zigeuner scheint von Rousseau beeinflusst: Pharold wird als Mann der Wildniss und der Freiheit gezeigt, der die verlogene Zivilistation gegenüber steht. Daher auch die Hinweise auf die nordamerikanischen Indianer, unter denen der zweite Zeuge 20 Jahre gelebt hat. ///// In der NDDB lässt sich folgendes über James finden: As a contributor to newspapers and magazines, he came under the notice of Washington Irving, who encouraged him to produce his Life of Edward the Black Prince (1822). Richelieu was finished in 1825, and was well thought of by Sir Walter Scott (who apparently saw it in manuscript), but was not brought out until 1829. Perhaps Irving and Scott, from their natural amiability, were rather dangerous advisers for a writer so inclined by nature to abundant production as James. But he took up historical romance writing at a lucky moment. Scott had firmly established the popularity of the style, and James in England, like Dumas in France, reaped the reward of their master's labors as well as of their own. For thirty years the author of Richelieu continued to pour out novels of the same kind though of varying merit. His works in prose fiction, verse narrative, and history of an easy kind are said to number over a hundred, most of them being three-volume novels of the usual length. Sixty-seven are catalogued in the British Museum. The best examples of his style are perhaps Richelieu (1829); Philip Augustus (1831); Henry Masterton, probably the best of all (1832); Mary of Burgundy (1833); Darnley (1839); Corse de Léon (1841); The Smuggler (1845). His poetry does not require special mention, nor does his history, though for a short time during the reign of William IV he held the office of historiographer royal. After writing copiously for about twenty years, James in 1850 went to America as British Consul for Massachusetts. He was consul at Richmond, Virginia from 1852 to 1856, when he was appointed to a similar post at Venice, where he died on the 9th of June 1860. James has been compared to Dumas, and the comparison holds good in respect of kind, though by no means in respect of merit. Both had a certain gift of separating from the picturesque parts of history what could without much difficulty be worked up into picturesque fiction, and both were possessed of a ready pen. Here, however, the likeness ends. The two cavaliers who in one form or another open most of his books have passed into a proverb, and William Makepeace Thackeray's good-natured but fatal parody of Barbazure is likely to outlast Richelieu and Darnley by many a year. Nevertheless, though James cannot be allowed any very high rank among novelists, he had a genuine narrative gift, and, though his very best books fall far below Les trois mousquetaires and La reine Margot, there is a certain even level of interest to be found in all of them. James never resorted to illegitimate methods to attract readers, and deserves such credit as may be due to a purveyor of amusement who never caters for the less creditable tastes of his guests. His best novels were published in a revised form in 21 volumes (1844-49).