The son of an East London dock worker, Jacobs grew up in Wapping and left school when he was 16 to join the civil service as a clerk in the Post Office Savings Bank. Never really happy in his work, he began writing short stories, mostly concerned with the sea and nautical culture. In 1896, he published his first collection of short stories, Many Cargoes, which was well-received. An excellent humourist, Jacobs became one of the most popular English writers of that genre in the early 20th century. Today, he is best remembered for his macabre story, The Monkey's Paw (1902), which appeared first in Harper's Monthly, and which was reprinted in his third collection of short stories, The Lady of the Barge that same year. His other works include More Cargoes (1898), Little Freights (1901), At Sunwich Port (1902), A Master of Craft (1903), Dialstone Lane (1904), Short Cruises (1907), Sailor's Knots (1909), Ship's Company (1911), Night Watches (1914), Castaways (1916), Deep Waters (1919), Sea Whispers (1926) and Snug Harbour (1931). |
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