Eric Mackay

A Lover's Litanies (Esprios Classics) Eric Mackay

George Eric Mackay (1835-2 June 1898) was an English minor poet, now remembered as the sponging half-brother of Marie Corelli, the best-selling novelist. Mackay and Corelli, born Mary Mackay, were the children of Charles Mackay, by different mothers (Mary was illegitimate, with Charles marrying her mother subsequently). As a poet he is described as "execrable", and reliant on Corelli's promotion of his works. His first works appeared in periodicals in the early 1860s; he achieved some reputation in his time for Letters of a Violinist (1886). It sold 35,000 copies; he repaid Corelli's efforts by implying he wrote her novels.