Richard Marsh’s novel The Beetle
Exhibition tells story of Crawley author's creepy tales. The life and works of Richard Marsh - a celebrated bestselling author at the turn of the 19th century but largely forgotten today - is the subject of an exhibition by University of Sussex researcher Graeme Pedlingham at Crawley Library. Richard Marsh's Gothic tale The Beetle 1 outsold even Dracula by Bram Stoker (both were published in 1897) while Marsh's crime thrillers featuring the female detective Judith Lee led to comparisons with Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle and Wilkie Collins, who penned the classic chiller The Woman in White . But Marsh's fin de siècle celebrity was short-lived. While Stoker, Conan Doyle and Collins are still known today as masters of their genres, the mysterious Marsh (who lived and worked for 20 years in Three Bridges) and his novels slipped into relative obscurity by the 1930s. Now, the exhibition - a collaboration between Crawley Library and the University of Sussex - aims to rediscover the author's work and celebrate his local connections. Dr Pedlingham, who led the project, says: "Marsh's reputation as a major author of the period is just starting to be re-established, and this project represents a fantastic opportunity to introduce him as a key figure in Crawley's cultural landscape.
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