Jeffery Farnol (10 February 1878 – 9 August 1952)
In her memoir, Starlight, Ida Pollock states:
I had not heard of Jeffery Farnol.In Dorking library Lilian found me something new by my favourite Jeffery Farnol,
and slowly I re-discovered the energy to read..
Searching him out, he had a successful book published in 1911 called The Broad Highway.
The Broad Highway is free to read on Project Gutenburg:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5257
I loved this interchange between the narrator and the tinker at the beginning of The Broad Highway.
How true it is:
"Many of the world's greatest books, those masterpieces which have lived and shall live on forever, were written (as I believe) for the pure love of writing them."
"Oh!" said the Tinker.
"Yes," said I, warming to my theme, "and with little or no idea of the eyes of those unborn generations which were to read and marvel at them; hence it is we get those sublime thoughts untrammelled by passing tastes and fashions, unbounded by narrow creed or popular prejudice."
"Ah?" said the Tinker.