Guy Newell Boothby

A Strange Goldfield and a Professor of Egyptology Guy Newell Boothby

Guy Newell Boothby, (1867-1905), was an Australian novelist and writer. In 1890 he wrote the libretto for a comic opera, Sylvia, which was published and produced at Adelaide in 1890. In 1894 he published On the Wallaby; or, Through the East and Across Australia, an account of the travels of himself and his brother, including a description of their journey across Australia from Cooktown to Adelaide. In the same year his first novel, In Strange Company was published in London and was quickly successful. He wrote over 50 books over the course of a decade. Some of his earlier works relate to stories of Australian life, but later he turned to genre fiction. He was once well known for his series of five novels about Doctor Nikola, an occultist anti-hero seeking immortality and world domination. His other works include: Dr. Nikola's Experiment (1899), A Bid for Fortune; or, Dr. Nikola's Vendetta (1895), The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds (1897), Pharos the Egyptian (1899), A Sailor's Bride (1899), My Strangest Case (1901), and Connie Burt (1903).