| Allan Quatermain | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Allan Quatermain |
|
First Appearance |
King Solomon's Mines (1885) |
|
Original Publisher |
Cassell & Company |
|
Created by |
Henry Rider Haggard |
Origin[]
Quatermain is an English-born professional big game hunter and occasional trader in southern Africa. He supports the effort to spread British civilization to the Dark Continent, and favors the Africans having a say in local affairs. Quatermain is portrayed as the quintessential Victorian outdoors-man who finds English cities and climate unbearable, preferring the untamed wilds of Africa instead. The same place he was raised by his widower father who came to Cape of Good Hope (now called South Africa) as a missionary.
In the early novels, the Zulu refer to Quatermain as Macumazahn, meaning "Watcher-by-Night", referring to his nocturnal habits and keen instincts. In the later novels, Macumazahn is said to be a short form of Macumazana, meaning "One who stands out." Quatermain is frequently accompanied by his manservant Hottentot Hans, a wise and caring man whose sarcastic comments offer a sharp critique of Western European conventions. In his final adventures, Quatermain is joined by two British companions, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good of the Royal Navy, and by his Zulu friend Umslopogaas.
In "She and Allan", Allan travels to Kôr, and is confronted by She Who Must Be Obeyed.
In the latter part of his career Quatermain takes the Taduki drug with Luna Ragnall, enabling him to see visions of his past lives in prehistoric Europe, ancient Egypt and other locales.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Allan Quatermain prior to January 1, 1931 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- King Solomon's Mines (1885)
- Hunter Quatermain's Story (first published in In a Good Cause, 1885)
- Long Odds (first published in Macmillan's Magazine February 1886)
- A Tale of Three Lions (first serialized in Atalanta Magazine, October-December 1887)
- Allan Quatermain (1887)
- Allan’s Wife (1887)
- Maiwa’s Revenge: or, The War of the Little Hand (1888)
- Nada the Lily (1892)
- Magepa the Buck (first published in Pears' Annual, 1912)
- Marie (1912)
- Child of Storm (1913)
- The Holy Flower (1915)
- The Ivory Child (1916)
- Finished (1917)
- The Ancient Allan (1920)
- She and Allan (1920)
- Heu-heu: or, The Monster (1924)
- The Treasure of the Lake (1926)
- Allan and the Ice-gods (1927)
Public Domain Film Appearances[]
- Allan Quatermain (1919)
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- King Solomon's Mines #1