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{{Short description|American writer (died 1915)}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Photo of Morgan Robertson.jpg
| alt                = 
| caption            = Robertson between 1890 and 1900
| birth_name         = Morgan Andrew Robertson
| birth_date         = {{birthdate|1861|9|30}}
| birth_place        = [[Oswego, New York]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{dda|1915|3|24|1861|9|30}}
| death_place        = [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Green-Wood Cemetery]]
| occupation         = Writer
| notable_works      = ''[[The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility]]''
}}
'''Morgan Andrew Robertson''' (September 30, 1861 - March 24, 1915) was an [[American literature|American author]] of [[short story|short stories]] and [[novel]]s, and the self-proclaimed inventor of the [[periscope]].

==Early life==
Robertson was the son of Andrew Robertson, a ship captain on the [[Great Lakes]], and Amelia (née Glassford) Robertson.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

==Career==
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2016}}
Morgan went to sea as a cabin boy and was in the [[United States Merchant Marine|merchant service]] from 1876 to 1899, during which time he was promoted eventually to [[Chief mate|first mate]]. Tired of life at sea, he studied jewelry-making at [[Cooper Union]] in New York City and worked for 10 years as a diamond setter. When that work began to impair his vision, he began writing [[nautical fiction|sea stories]], his work being published in such popular magazines as ''[[McClure's]]'' and the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]''. Robertson never made much money from his writing, a circumstance that distressed him greatly. Nevertheless, beginning with the early 1890s his main source of income was as a writer and he enjoyed the company of other [[Bohemianism|bohemian]]-style artists and writers in New York.

===''Futility''===
{{Sources|date=July 2023}}
Robertson is known best for his short novel ''[[The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility|Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan]]'', first published in 1898. This story features an enormous British [[passenger liner]] named the SS ''Titan'', which, deemed to be unsinkable, carries an insufficient number of lifeboats. On a voyage during the month of April, the ''Titan'' hits an [[iceberg]] and sinks in the [[North Atlantic]] Ocean, resulting in the loss of almost everyone on board. There are many close similarities with the real-life [[Sinking of the Titanic|sinking of the ''Titanic'']]. The book was published 14 years before the actual ''Titanic'', carrying an insufficient number of lifeboats, hit an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, killing most of the people on board. The similarities between the fictional ''Titan'' and the real ''Titanic'' have caused discussion ever since the tragedy.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hasan |first=Heba |date=2012-04-14 |title=Author 'Predicts' Titanic Sinking 14 Years Earlier |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/14/author-predicts-titanic-sinking-14-years-earlier/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref>

===Other works===
In 1905, Robertson's book ''The Submarine Destroyer'' was published. It described a [[submarine]] that used a device known as a [[periscope]]. Despite Robertson's later claims that he had "invented" a prototype periscope himself (and was refused a patent), [[Simon Lake]] and [[Harold Grubb]] had perfected the model used by the U.S. Navy by 1902, three years before Robertson's "prescient" novel.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

In 1914, in a volume that also contained a new version of ''Futility'', Robertson included a short story named "Beyond The Spectrum", which described a future war between the United States and the [[Empire of Japan]], a popular subject at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beyond the Spectrum - The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility - Morgan Robertson, Book, etext |url=https://www.telelib.com/authors/R/RobertsonMorgan/prose/wreckofthetitan/spectrum001.html |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=www.telelib.com}}</ref> Japan does not declare war but instead ambushes United States ships ''en route'' to the Philippines Islands and Hawaii; an invasion fleet about to begin a surprise attack on San Francisco is stopped by the hero using the weapon from a captured Japanese vessel. The title refers to an [[ultraviolet]] searchlight used by the Japanese, but invented by the Americans, to blind American crews.

Robertson authored ''Primordial'' / ''Three Laws and the Golden Rule'', a novella about shipwrecked children growing up together and becoming enamored of each other on a desert island. Fans of [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] acknowledge Robertson's contribution to the works of [[Henry De Vere Stacpoole]], particularly ''[[The Blue Lagoon (novel)|The Blue Lagoon]]''. They believe that both Robertson's and Stacpoole's writings influenced Burroughs' creation of ''[[Tarzan of the Apes]]''.<ref>[http://www.erbzine.com/mag18/robertson.htm "Primordial ''and'' Three Laws and the Golden Rule {by} Morgan Robertson"]. ''ERBzine'' Volume 1854. (erbzine.com).</ref>

==Death==
On the afternoon of March 24, 1915, Robertson was found dead in his room at the Alamac Hotel in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]]. He was 53 years old. It was believed initially that he died of an overdose of [[paraldehyde]], which he was taking as a sleep aid, however a physician stated that [[heart disease]] was the cause.<ref name=NYT-obit>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70D16FF3E5A15738DDDAC0A94DB405B858DF1D3# "MORGAN ROBERTSON DIES STANDING UP; Writer of Sea Tales Found Dead in Hotel with Drug Near Head Resting on Bureau"]. ''The New York Times''. March 25, 1915.</ref> He was buried at [[Green-Wood Cemetery]] in Brooklyn.<ref>{{Cite web |last=gwmain |date=2013-09-30 |title=September 30: Morgan Andrew Robertson |url=https://www.green-wood.com/2013/september-30-morgan-andrew-robertson/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=Green-Wood |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Books and stories==
{{Incomplete list|date=October 2024}}

* ''Spun-Yarn: Sea Stories'', ([[Harper & Brothers]], 1898) – collection
** ''The Slumber of a Soul: A Tale of a Mate and a Cook''
** ''The Survival of the Fittest''
** ''A Creature of Circumstance''
** ''The Derelict "Neptune"''
** ''Honor Among Thieves''
* ''[[The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility |Futility]]'' (M. F. Mansfield, 1898); revised 1912 and later published as "The Wreck of the Titan", or a compound title 
* ''"Where Angels Fear to Tread" and Other Stories of the Sea'' ([[The Century Co.]], 1899) – collection
** ''Where angels fear to tread''
** ''The brain of the battle-ship''
** ''The wigwag message''
** ''The trade-wind''
** ''Salvage''
** ''Between the Millstones''
** ''The Battle of the Monsters''
** ''From the royal-yard down''
** ''Needs must when the devil drives''
** ''When Greek meets Greek''
** ''Primordial''
* ''Shipmates'' ([[D. Appleton & Company]], 1901) – collection
** ''Ice Woman Diaries; A Witch’s Tin Key”
** ''The Fool Killer''
** ''The Devil and His Due''
** ''Polarity: A Tale of Two Brunettes''
** ''A Tale of a Pigtail''
** ''The Man at the Wheel''
** ''The Day of the Dog''
** ''At the End of the Man-rope''
** ''A Fall From Grace''
** ''The Dutch Port Watch''
** ''On the Forecastle Deck''
* ''Masters of Men'' (Curtis Publishing Co., 1901)
** ''Book I - The Age of Stone''
** ''Book II - The Age of Iron''
** ''Book III - Barbarism''
** ''Book IV - Civilization''
* ''Sinful Peck'' (Harper & Brothers, 1903) – novel
* ''Land Ho!'' (Harper & Brothers, 1896–1905) – collection
** ''The Dollar''
** ''The Ship-Owner''
** ''The Wave''
** ''The Cook and the Captain''
** ''The Line of Least Resistance''
** ''The Lobster''
** ''On Board The "Athol"''
** ''The Magnetized Man''
** ''The Mistake''
** ''The Submarine Destroyer''
** ''The Dancer''
** ''On the Rio Grande''
* ''Down to the Sea'' (Harper & Brothers, 1905) – collection
** ''The Closing of the Circuit''
** ''A Cow, Two Men, and a Parson''
** ''The Rivals''
** ''A Chemical Comedy''
** ''A Hero Of The Cloth''
** ''The Subconscious Finnegan''
** ''The Torpedo''
** ''The Submarine''
** ''Fifty Fathoms Down''
** ''The Enemies''
** ''The Vitality of Dennis''
** ''The Helix''
** ''The Shark''
** ''The Mutiny''

[[McClure's Magazine]] and [[Metropolitan Magazine (New York City)|Metropolitan Magazine]] collaborated in 1914 to publish a four-volume set of short fiction. All of the stories were previously published, perhaps all but "The Wreck of the Titan" first published in magazines.
* ''The Wreck of the Titan, or Futility'' (McClure's and Metropolitan, 1914) – collection
** ''[[The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility|The Wreck of the Titan]]'' – 1898 novella ''Futility'', revised 1912 as ''The Wreck of the Titan''
** ''The Pirates''
** ''Beyond the Spectrum''
** ''In the Valley of the Shadow''
* ''Three Laws and the Golden Rule'' (McClure's and Metropolitan, 1914) – collection
** ''The Three Laws and the Golden Rule'' – sequel to "Primordial"
** ''The Americans''
** ''Dignity''
** ''The Honeymoon Ship''
** ''The Third Mate''
** ''Through the Deadlight''
** ''The Hairy Devil''
** ''The Slumber of a Soul''
** ''Honor Among Thieves''
** ''The Survival of the Fittest''
** ''A Creature of Circumstance''
* ''Over the Border'' (McClure's and Metropolitan, 1914) – collection
** ''The Last Battleship''
** ''Absolute Zero''
** ''Over the Border''
** ''The Fire Worshiper''
** ''The Baby''
** ''The Grinding of the Mills''
** ''The Equation''
** ''The Twins''
** ''The Brothers''
** ''Kimset''
** ''The Mate of His Soul''
** ''The Voices''
** ''The Sleep Walker''
* ''The Grain Ship'' (McClure's and Metropolitan, 1914) – collection
** ''The Grain Ship''
** ''From the Darkness and the Depths''
** ''Noah's Ark''
** ''The Finishing Touch''
** ''The Rock''
** ''The Argonauts''
** ''The Married Man''
** ''The Triple Alliance''
** ''Shovels and Bricks''
** ''Extracts from Noah's Logs''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|author:Morgan Robertson|Morgan Robertson}}
*{{IMDb name|0731966}}
*"Periscope Inventor Dead", Renfrew Mercury, Friday, April 2, 1915, p.&nbsp;7
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121222235700/http://www.historyonthenet.com/Titanic/futility.htm "The Titanic – Futility"] at HistoryOnTheNet.com (archived 2012-12-22) – tabular data on the fictional and real ships
* {{LCAuth|n50049183|Morgan Robertson|21|}}

;Online editions
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130508012050/http://titanic-titanic.com/wreck_of_the_titan_1.shtml Wreck of The Titan/Futility] by Morgan Robertson
*[http://www.erbzine.com/mag18/robertson.htm Primordial, and Three Laws and the Golden Rule] by Morgan Robertson
* {{Gutenberg author | id=25902| name=Morgan Robertson}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Morgan Andrew Robertson}}
* {{Librivox author |id=4760}}
* [http://www.readbookonline.net/books/Robertson/515/ Read Books Online Website]
* [http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/morgan-robertson.shtml Online Library] (many original scans of Robertson's work)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Morgan}}
[[Category:1915 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:19th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:19th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American short story writers]]
[[Category:American male novelists]]
[[Category:American male short story writers]]
[[Category:Cooper Union alumni]]
[[Category:Date of birth missing]]
[[Category:Drug-related deaths in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Novelists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:United States Merchant Mariners]]
[[Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery]]