Pseudonym Gallery

Sketches of Cricket in India, 1890

A series of sketches by an English Cavalry Officer of a game of cricket played between an Indian College and British Officers, in India, 1890. The correspondent who sent in the account of this match wished to remain anonymous and gave little in the way of details about the match. Indeed the Indian College was given the pseudonym 'The Progress College of Arts and Sciences' and the location was not disclosed. The Illustrated London News editor who wrote the original caption said there was a 'touch of caricature' in their depiction of the Indian players, but hoped 'the joke would be taken in a good-humoured spirit, as it is meant'.

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Caricature of The Two Obadiahs

Caricature of The Two Obadiahs, J Willing Senior and J Willing Junior. "What! Disgrace your family name, Jim, by writing plays! What next!" 'James Willing' was actually a pseudonym for John Thomas Douglass (1842-1917), manager of the Standard Theatre, Shoreditch, London, and it is not clear whether the younger 'Willing' existed or was simply just another pseudonym, to avoid Douglass's name appearing as the author of too many plays.
1882

© Terry Parker / Mary Evans Picture Library

The Earl of Rosslyn - stage name, James Erskine

James Francis Harry St Clair-Erskine, 5th Earl Rosslyn (1869-1939), author and journalist. Also unusual in that he was a member of the peerage who trod the boards professionally, making his debut in Trelawney of the Wells under the theatrical pseudonym of James Erskine. This photograph appeared in an article in the Lady's Realm entitled, 'The Peerage and the Stage' and the writer notes that, 'he wears a black velvet collar on his white Newmarket coat but has otherwise none of the outward peculiarities of the profession he has adopted.'! Date: 1904

© Mary Evans Picture Library