The Spinster and the Prophet: H.G. Wells, Florence Deeks, and the Case of the Plagiarized Text

I read this book while conducting some "extra-curricular" research on plagiarism. What I found most interesting in this book by A.B. McKillop was the incredible determination of Florence Deeks to achieve justice, even if it meant appealing to the highest courts in the Canadian and British judicial systems. Deeks lost these appeals, but A.B. McKillop's documentation of Wells' plagiarism of a woman author--in a time when women weren't really supposed to aspire to authorship--will ensure that the facts of this unfortunate case are there for anyone wanting to know where many of Well's "brilliant" ideas/plots/books really came from. As McKillop notes, Deeks wasn't the only author Wells had stolen from. When Ms. Deeks came forward, other authors came forward with their allegations about Wells' appropriation of their ideas. But they lacked the determination which compelled Florence Deeks to pursue her case, even if it meant crossing the Atlantic, spending fortunes in legal fees, and sparring with unsympathetic judicial big wigs. Wells' wholesale copying/minimal paraphrasing was so blatant that he even left in some of the very mistakes Deeks had made in her book manuscript, and McKillop documents such mistakes thoroughly with photos of original manuscript pages included among other evidence such as log book entries for Macmillan Publishers. Copying of errors from one text to another is a sort of basic error which gets more than a few modern plagiarists in trouble, for example, students who forget to "update" an Internet paper download. Such errors that McKillop documents in this excellent book are the most convincing aspect of the work. Wells may continue to receive post-humous accolades and honors from the world of science fiction and from the movie industry. And irony of ironies-- the book that he plagiarized from Ms Deeks, "Outline of History" is still available in moder format under his name! And the royalties from such works continue to enrich the agents for his work, not to mention his family. Such is the life of a plagiarist. The wordthief gets the $$$, recognition and fame, immortality as an author. Those who do things the "right" way barely scrape by, remain obscure, and are altogether forgotten. Dr. Herbert Ulysses Quickwit

H.G.Wells' Outline of History rings more than one bell from some forgotten toddler era of one's paidaia and it comes as a shock to discover this complot behind the original bestseller, and still for many in small town public libraries their intro to world history. It is therefore significant to have record set straight. The author revives the nearly misplaced story of Florence Deeks and her manuscript's fate at the hands of her publishers and presents the convincing case for Wells' use of the text as an 'outline' prefab and accelerant for his otherwise unaccountable haste in producing his very long work. There is a curious sort of last judgment at least--the facts of the case resurface to expose the deed to history and memory. Well done sherlocking.

Although largely forgotten today, H.G. Wells' "Outline of History" was one of the great bestsellers of the post-World War I era. Readers by the thousands eagerly consumed this work, a tale of humankind from the prehistoric era to the present day. Although Wells was a well-established literary figure, he had made his repoutation as a popular novelist; the appearance of the "Outline" would be somewhat akin to a similar work appearing under the signature of Tom Clancy or Stephen King today.Florence Deeks, meanwhile, was a Canadian woman of no literary reputation or fame. But a few years earlier, she had set for herself the ambitious task of writing a history of humankind, with an emphasis on the contributions of women. She submitted her manuscript for publication, and was surprised to receive it back, rejected, only after an eight-month interval. Even more puzzling was the condition of the document--dogeared, soiled, generally well worn. For Deeks, at least, the mystery was solved when she read a review, which led her to purchase a copy of "The Outline of History." It immediately became clear to her that Wells had based his work on hers. Not only was the general structure virtually the same, whole passages were lifted verbatim.The bulk of this well-researched, well-written book is the saga of Deeks' unsucessful, decade-long struggle for justice in the legal system of Canada and the U.K. It becomes sadly, abundantly clear, that the authorities never considered her plagarism suit on its obvious merits. As is so often the case, reputation triumphed over the right.A.B. McKillop has taken a now obscure literary and legal episode and brought it vividly to life again in this outstanding work. McKillop's sympathies are clearly (and correctly) with Deeks, who struggled so long for justice against overwhelming odds. Her telling of the tale is so compelling that the reader is swept up in a sense of outrage, and even though the outcome is foreordained, a wish that somehow things could turn out differently in the end. Sadly, the only true vindication for Deeks is in the pages of this book. But at least posterity will know the true story.--William C. Hall

This book is foremost a look at the position of women in Canada (and the UK) in the literary and legal worlds. It is also very well written, with interesting information about H.G. Wells' personal life, his attitude toward women (including his long suffering wife and Rebecca West), his sense of self-importance and his scorn for "unimportant" writers.