Michael Sadleir (formerly Sadler) Biography

British bibliographer and novelist, born in Oxford, educated at Balliol College, Oxford. A keen interest in the Victorian era and nineteenth-century books resulted in two important bibliographies, Excursions in Victorian Bibliography (1922) and Nineteenth Century Fiction (2 volumes, 1951). This interest is evident in his best-known novel, Fanny by Gaslight (1940), which was also filmed; set in the 1870s, it tells the story of young Fanny Hooper's experience in London, with strong emphasis on authentic descriptions of parts of the city, and period styles of narrative. As well as novels, essays, and other prose works, he also wrote Trollope: A Commentary (1927), Trollope: A Bibliography (1927), and a memoir (1949) of his father, the educationalist Michael Sadler. Sadleir became a director of the publishing house Constable and Co. in 1920.