Father Brown

Father Brown
Real Name	Father Paul J. Brown
First Appearance	Valentin Follows a Curious Trail (July 23, 1910)
Original Publisher	Saturday Evening Post
Created by	G.K. Chesterton

Synopsis

Father Brown on a case, illustrated by Sydney Seymour Lucas for The Innocence of Father Brown.

Father Brown was a British Catholic priest who frequently aided in the investigation of gruesome crimes. He was a small man, not much larger than a child, with a round face and brown hair. He wore a black priests outfit with a round black hat and boots. He is usually depicted wearing glasses and he frequently carried an umbrella on his adventures. Physically, he was a bit clumsy, but he possessed a strong and naturally curious mind.

He believed there was reason and justice to be found in all of creation. He always sought rational explanations to crimes that seemed extraordinary. He solves crimes by putting himself in the mind of the killer. When asked how a priest could understand such evil, he says, "Has it never struck you that a man who does next to nothing but hear men's real sins is not likely to be wholly unaware of human evil?"

In the story "The Eye of Apollo", he is described as "the Reverend J. Brown", while in "The Sign of the Broken Sword", he is apparently named Paul.

Father Brown is generally depicted as humble and quiet, usually reserving his speech until he has a profound observation to communicate. He often was assisted in his crime-solving by the reformed criminal Hercule Flambeau.

Public Domain Literary Appearances

All Published appearances of Father Brown from before January 1, 1929 are public domain in the US.

Some notable appearances are listed below:

Short Stories:

• "The Blue Cross", The Story-Teller, September 1910; first published as "Valentin Follows a Curious Trail", The Saturday Evening Post, 23 July 1910
• "The Secret Garden", The Story-Teller, October 1910. (The Saturday Evening Post, Sep 3, 1910)
• "The Queer Feet", The Story-Teller, November 1910. (The Saturday Evening Post, Oct 1, 1910)
• "The Flying Stars", The Saturday Evening Post, 20 May 1911.
• "The Invisible Man", The Saturday Evening Post, 28 January 1911. (Cassell's Magazine, Feb 1911)
• "The Honour of Israel Gow" (as "The Strange Justice", The Saturday Evening Post, 25 March 1911).
• "The Wrong Shape", The Saturday Evening Post, 10 December 1910.
• "The Sins of Prince Saradine", The Saturday Evening Post, 22 April 1911.
• "The Hammer of God" (as "The Bolt from the Blue", The Saturday Evening Post, 5 November 1910).
• "The Eye of Apollo", The Saturday Evening Post, 25 February 1911.
• "The Sign of the Broken Sword", The Saturday Evening Post, 7 January 1911.
• "The Three Tools of Death", The Saturday Evening Post, 24 June 1911.
• "The Absence of Mr Glass", McClure's Magazine, November 1912.
• "The Paradise of Thieves", McClure's Magazine, March 1913.
• "The Duel of Dr Hirsch"
• "The Man in the Passage", McClure's Magazine, April 1913.
• "The Mistake of the Machine"
• "The Head of Caesar", The Pall Mall Magazine, June 1913.
• "The Purple Wig", The Pall Mall Magazine, May 1913.
• "The Perishing of the Pendragons", The Pall Mall Magazine, June 1914.
• "The God of the Gongs"
• "The Salad of Colonel Cray"
• "The Strange Crime of John Boulnois", McClure's Magazine, February 1913.
• "The Fairy Tale of Father Brown"
• The Donnington Affair (1914)
• "The Resurrection of Father Brown"
• "The Arrow of Heaven" (Nash's Pall Mall Magazine, Jul 1925)
• "The Oracle of the Dog" (Nash's [PMM], Dec 1923)
• "The Miracle of Moon Crescent" (Nash's [PMM], May 1924)
• "The Curse of the Golden Cross" (Nash's [PMM], May 1925)
• "The Dagger with Wings" (Nash's [PMM], Feb 1924)
• "The Doom of the Darnaways" (Nash's [PMM], Jun 1925)
• "The Ghost of Gideon Wise" (Cassell's Magazine, Apr 1926)
• "The Secret of Father Brown" (framing story)
• "The Mirror of the Magistrate" (Harper's Magazine, Mar 1925, under the title "The Mirror of Death")
• "The Man with Two Beards"
• "The Song of the Flying Fish"
• "The Actor and the Alibi"
• "The Vanishing of Vaudrey" (Harper's Magazine, Oct 1925)
• "The Worst Crime in the World"
• "The Red Moon of Meru"
• "The Chief Mourner of Marne" (Harper's Magazine, May 1925)
• "The Secret of Flambeau" (framing story)

Compilations:

• The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)
• The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914)
• The Incredulity of Father Brown (1926)
• The Secret of Father Brown (1927)

See Also

• Wikipedia
• ComicVine