New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-09
WHO CREATED NICK CARTER,
The Author of Forty Million Words Abou,
Him Tells of His Beginnings
To the Editor Of The Tribune.


Sir: Your issue Of January contain.a.
article clipped from "The Pbiladelphi. 7,
quirer" csptioned mick Carter" which \.
gins as follows: "The death OF the w,,,..
who concealed himself under many n,n,.
but who was best known as Nick Cay,.,, i
an event which should no, pass unnotiesSs
etc. The entire article, in effect. give, a..
impression that Mr.. Tozer was the create.
Of the character Of Nick Carter. Of the ,h,.
acters Of his assistants and the author ~ ~
Of the stories, or at least majority OF th.r.
that ne was the real Nick Carter Pe,.o,
ally, | do not believe that Mr. Toz.r .v..
made any such claim. I knew him, admI,,s
him and his abilities asawriter and liked hin
much; and he was the author Of many o, IA.
Nick Carter stories-as were, also. several
other authors, notably Mr. Frederick psv;,
who to the best Of my information. is SIN
living and who has written many more Ni,s
Carriers than Tozer, and, do not doubt. /,
now writing them.
It is an odd and somewhat interesting a.,
that several persons, very much alive, who. .,
far as known, have COR had never write,
anything have claimed the authorship OF Me,
Carter; that a man who died in an ssylur
for the insane in California several year,
ago had made the same claim-snd got ava,
with it afte- he was dead. The truth Of IA.
matter is that the Nick Carter Detee,iv.
Library was first published by Stree, 4
Smith. New York, in 1890, that the first story
to be published was entitled "Nick Carter D,
tective," by "A Celebrated Author and TIA,
the subsequent issues were published a. ab7
the author Of Nick Carter" and that the An.
thor of those stories, continuously, for lon,
time thereafter was Frederic van Rens,sl,s,
Dey, myself, the writer of this letter II.
name "Nick Carter" was selected for eu,I,.
mistic reasons for the hero-detective By NJ
Ormond G. Smith, the head Of the firm q,
Street & Smith, and was chosen from char.
acter that Mr.. John R. Coryell had employee
in detective story called THE Old Dst,e.
tive's Pupil COR "A Wall Street HauP) tv,
or three years earlier; and il is none the ls,,
true that / created the character Of Nix
Carter witaout regard to Mr. Coryelrs Vi.
of the name, and that Chick, Patsy. Ien-Ichi.
Peter Joseph, Ida Jones, etc, etc, were char.
acters Of my own creation entirely an
"The Author Of Nick Carter" because Ero,
mick Carter, Detective" and the subseouen,
stories by THE Author Of Nick Carter" and
years afterward, when the name Of the library
was changed to "The Nick Carter Weekly
the New n. c. W, to be exact, it was Who
suggested the change in the name Of Al.
thorship to Edited by Chickering Carter
which was the name given 70 Chick sker
Nick adopted nina waf of the plains whom
Nick discovered in a story entitled "0rs
Against Twenty-one.'
The first four Nick Carriers were $1,000
words long; they were reduced TO 20oM
words, and later increased 10 10000, column
measurement, and there had 10 be hfty-tEs
of them written each and every year. In a.
diton thereto, | was called upon to keep
serial Nick Carter 5000 words per install
ment) running in THE New York Weekly
Thus it is quite obvious why other writer's
(and very many Of them; a score or more,
all todd were called upon TO assist in the
writing Of the Libraries. In many casa
where new writers were called upon,
stated, carefully edited their stories beion
they were printed, although neither Tour
nor Davis needed or was given tuition By
me- They read the stories already published
and so got the swing Of them. Later Davis
took all Of the serial work for THE NJ"
York Weekly" and | gave my entire after.
ton to the completed 10000 words stories
for the weekly Library-and wrote sill o.
them for man; years 10 follow.
An article hy Frank NJ. 0Brien, now Wit
-
York Press" in the summer Of 1912 II think
describes exactly my authorship OF Nes
Carte IN that article he credits me VIII
4O,OOO,O 900 words about Nick Carter, which
not far out Of the way, because | wrote ap'
proximately thousand Of them, and also
many serials which ran from 10000 70 1909"
words each.
| have not written a Nick Carter in six Or
seven years, but during that time many O.
my old stories have been republished' VIII
corrections to bring them up to date pr
ticularly in "The New Magnet Library Pre-
Is cents; and it is my impression that ="
Davis now writes such new ones as app'i'
The publication of second-serial-right stor"
of that character in the evening newspaper
and the moving picture industry drove ne
cent detective library out Of business o.,
there was a time while I was writing ell o.
them. when they were translated and p'''
lished in French, German, Spanish, lnih
Swedish, Portuguese and several other A''
guages. -,
IL occurs 10 me that in justice TO ~
Tozer's memory, as ~ell as TO Mr.. DAVIS, vi
Charles Hook, Mr.. Eugene Derby and othei1
as well as to me, printing Of this le'f
would be a logical method settling the N.Y.
mooted question OF the identity Of Mex
Carter forevermore.
FREDERIC VAN RENSSELAER, DEf'
New York, Jan. 4. 1917.