Thomas Anstey Guthrie, writing under his pseudonym, F. Anstey, was one of the most popular authors of humorous fantasies of the late Victorian period and the early twentieth century. His work is among the best of a particular type of British fantasy, in which the supernatural intrudes into the everyday with comically disastrous results. Though enjoyable as entertainment, such works also include subtle satire on contemporary foibles and unobtrusive moral instruction. In the case of Anstey, his works often poke fun at the pretensions of social class in ways similar to the works of Mark Twain, whom he admired.

Born in London on 8 August 1856, Thomas Anstey Guthrie was named after his father, a military tailor; his mother was Augusta Amherst Austen Guthrie. In his autobiography Anstey described his childhood as happy, his father as successful, and his mother as a "gentlewoman." His childhood, shared with two brothers and...