Ned Buntline
BiographyEdward Zane Carroll Judson Sr. (March 20, 1821–July 16, 1886), known by his pen name Ned Buntline, was an American publisher, journalist, and writer. Born in Harpersfield, New York, he moved with his parents to Bethany, Pennsylvania in 1826, then to Philadelphia in 1834, then in November of 1834 ran away to sea and the next year shipped on board a Navy vessel. As a seaman he served in the Seminole Wars but saw little combat and resigned after four years. During the Civil War he enlisted in the First New York Mounted Rifles and rose to the rank of sergeant before being dishonorably discharged for drunkenness.
His first publication was an adventure story in The Knickerbocker in 1838. In 1844 he adopted the pen name “Ned Buntline,” “buntline” being the nautical term for a rope that attaches to the bottom of a square sail.
He started numerous failed magazines and businesses before settling in to write pulp fiction for various magazines. After being imprisoned for being one of the instigators of the Astor Place Riot in 1849, he concentrated on his writing and at his peak was reportedly earing $20,000 a year.
Bibliography (wildly incomplete)
Magdalena, the Beautiful Mexican Maid: A Story of Buena Vista (1846)
The Black Avenger of the Spanish Main, Or, the Fiend of Blood: A Thrilling Story of the Buccaneer Times (1847)
The White Wizard: Or, the Great Prophet of the Seminoles: a Tale of Strange Mystery in the South and North (1858)
The King of the Sea: A Tale of the Fearless and Free (1860)
Other links
Princeton University
Wikipedia