Best Selling Books by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

The late nineteenth and early twentienth century were a fecund period for classical mystery writers. Among the most popular was Baroness Emmuska Orczy. The Old Man in the Corner contains twelve of the stories by Baroness Orczy featuring the mysterious man who sits in the corner of the ABC tea shop fiddling with a piece of string whilst working our the solutions to crimes that have baffled the police. Each case is unfolded during the course of a conversation between the man in the corner and a lady journalist, an ingenious method that avoids the necessity of a clumsy tacked-on explanation of the crime. Relying solely on his vast Holmesian powers of deduction, the "strange looking" sleuth never deigns to visit the scene of the crime, question a suspect, or examine clues. Nor does he have much faith in conventional police methods and crime solving capabilities. _We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel is a sequel book to the classic adventure tale, The Scarlet Pimpernel. Written by Baroness Orczy and first published in 1919, the book consists of eleven short stories about Sir Percy Blakeney''s exploits in rescuing various aristos and French citizens from the clutches of the guillotine. (Wikipedia)

The First Sir Percy is a 1920 adventure novel by Baroness Orczy featuring Sir Percy Blake, ancestor of Orczy''s character The Scarlet Pimpernel. It is a direct sequel to The Laughing Cavalier, occurring a few months after the events in the first book. It is March 1624 in Holland. Two months earlier, a mercenary/adventurer who calls himself "Diogenes" foiled the plot on the life of the Stadtholder. Now, he has finally met his real father, an English nobleman, and realized his true identity as Sir Percy Blake of Blakeney, heir to a large estate in Sussex. He is also getting married to Gilda Beresteyn, the woman he was paid to kidnap back in January. (Wikipedia)

"he Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title enjoyed a long run in London, having opened in Nottingham in 1903.The novel is set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The title is the nom de guerre of its hero and protagonist, a chivalrous Englishman who rescues aristocrats before they are sent to the guillotine. Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life: apparently nothing more than a wealthy fop, but in reality a formidable swordsman and a quick-thinking escape artist. The band of gentlemen who assist him are the only ones who know of his secret identity. He is known by his symbol, a simple flower, the scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis). Marguerite Blakeney, his French wife, does not share his secret. She is approached by the new French envoy to England, Chauvelin, with a threat to her brother''s life if she does not aid in the search for the Pimpernel.She aids him, and then discovers that the Pimpernel is also very dear to her. She sails to France to stop the envoy."

In the late 18th century, France was in the throes of the French Revolution. Of particular tumult during this conflict were the years known as the "Reign of Terror", a time in which a revolutionary tribunal executed thousands of French citizens. It is during the "Reign of Terror" in which Baroness Emmuska Orczy''s "The Scarlet Pimpernel" is set. "The Scarlet Pimpernel" is the story of Sir Percy Blakeney, a chivalrous Englishman married to the beautiful French actress, Marguerite St. Just, with whom he pretends to be a slow-witted dandy. However this is but a ruse to hide his true identity as the Scarlet Pimpernel, who with his "League of the Scarlet Pimpernel", a secret society of English aristocrats, rescue French royalists before they can be marched atop the guillotine. Drawing his nickname from the small red flower he draws on his messages, the Scarlet Pimpernel is chased the relentless French agent Citizen Armand Chauvelin as he tries to intervene in the madness of the "Reign of Terror". First published in 1905, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" is notable for its introduction to literature of a hero with a secret identity. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orci (1865 - 1947) was a Hungarian-born British novelist and playwright. She is best known for her series of novels about an English aristocrat, Sir Percy Blakeney, Bart., who rescued French aristocrats from the French Revolution: The Scarlet Pimpernel. Orczy wrote over a dozen sequels featuring Sir Percy Blakeney, his family, and the other members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, of which the first, I Will Repay (1906), was the most popular. She also wrote popular mystery fiction and many adventure romances. Her Lady Molly of Scotland Yard was an early example of a female detective as the main character. Orczy was a founding member of the Detection Club (1930).

"First published in 1908, The Elusive Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy is the 4th book in the classic adventure series about the Scarlet Pimpernel.A French-language version, translated and adapted by Charlotte and Marie-Louise Desroyses, was also produced under the title Nouveaux Exploits du Mouron Rouge.It was adapted into a silent film The Elusive Pimpernel in 1919."