Baroness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel illustrated Baroness Orczy

The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title enjoyed a long run in London, having opened in Nottingham in 1903The Scarlet Pimpernel is an "English wayside flower," and it is symbolic of Sir Percy Blakeney's secret identity as the Scarlet Pimpernel, "the best and bravest man in all the world." Each time Sir Percy saves an "innocent" aristocrat from the guillotine disguised as the Scarlet Pimpernel, he sends the French ...