The Occult Detectives of Victor Rousseau

Victor Rousseau Emanuel (1879-1960) was a British-born journalist, novelist and pulp fiction writer who lived at various times in Britain, South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He wrote fiction in a variety of genres, under several pen names, primarily, "Victor Rousseau". Here, I'm collecting his stories of occult detection, in particular from his three series:

• Ivan Brodsky, Surgeon of Souls
• Phileas Immanuel, Tracer of Egos
• Dr. Martinus, Occultist.

While collections of the Ivan Brodsky and Phileas Immanuel series exist, they are out of print, and fairly hard to find legitimately. So I'm collecting as many of the stories as I can find at online archives, and either linking to the archival sources or transcribing them here. The Dr. Martinus series has never been collected. I will transcribe the stories that I can find, and list publication information for the remaining tales.

Read my introductory comments about Rousseau's occult detective fiction here.

Dr. Ivan Brodsky, Surgeon of Souls #

Dr. Ivan Brodsky is a Polish immigrant living in the United States, and a Professor of Nervous Diseases. He treats his patients using Spiritualistic principles. His cases are chronicled by an unnamed medical colleague who acts as Brodsky's personal secretary.

This is one of the earliest "occult detective," or "psychic detective" series. Its first known appearance was in the Stevens Point Journal, a Wisconsin newspaper, from 1910-1911, bylined H.M. Egbert. Ten of the original stories, plus an additional introductory story, ran in Weird Tales from 1926-1927.

Read my discussion of the Surgeon of Souls series here.

The Stories #

Here are links to the twelve known stories. The order here is as published in Weird Tales. With the exception of "Homo Homunculus," all links are to the Internet Archive. My transcription of "Homo Homunculus" is interpolated in, based on the order of the Spectre Library collection, which is different from the Weird Tales order.

The Case of the Jailer's Daughter as published in Weird Tales, 8(3) (September 1926)

The Woman With the Crooked Nose as published in Weird Tales, 8(4) (October 1926)

The Tenth Commandment as published in Weird Tales, 8(5) (November 1926).
This tale is based on a common urban legend that has also been the basis of ghost stories by Augustus Hare and Katharine Tynan.

The Legacy of Hate as published in Weird Tales, 8(6) (December 1926)

The Major's Menagerie as published in Weird Tales, 9(1) (January 1927)

The Fetish of the Waxworks as published in Weird Tales, 9(2) (February 1927)

The Seventh Symphony as published in Weird Tales, 9(3) (March 1927)

The Chairs of Stuyvesant Baron as published in Weird Tales, 9(4) (April 1927).
This one is fairly light-hearted, and my favorite of the series.

Homo Homunculus as published in the Stevens Point Journal, Feb. 3, 1911.

The Man Who Lost His Luck as published in Weird Tales, 9(5) (May 1927)

The Dream That Came True as published in Weird Tales, 9(6) (June 1927)

The Ultimate Problem in Weird Tales, 10(1) (July 1927).
Note the similarity in title to the Sherlock Holmes story, "The Final Problem."

Collections #

Surgeon of Souls, Spectre Library (2006) - Introduction by Mike Ashley. Contains all twelve stories known at the time. (OUT OF PRINT)

Audiobook of all twelve stories, available at the Internet Archive.

Dr Ivan Brodsky, Surgeon of Souls (2009) - ebook collecting the eleven stories that ran in Weird Tales.

His Second Self: The Bio-Bibliography of Victor Rousseau Emanuel (2011) - contains a previously unknown thirteenth Brodsky story.

Dr. Phileas Immanuel, Tracer of Egos #

Dr. Phileas Immanuel is a Greek physician who treats patients according to his theories of reincarnation. His cases are chronicled by an unnamed American doctor. He is also frequently accompanied by millionaire financier and art collector Paul Tarrant.

Nine of the stories originally appeared in Holland's Magazine from 1913-1914. Three additional stories appeared when the series went into syndication.

Read my discussion of the Tracer of Egos here.

The Stories (In Progress) #

Below are the original nine stories, in the order published by the Evening Republican, Rensselaer (Indiana). Missing stories are interpolated in according to the order in the Spectre Library collection, which does contain the complete series.

Stories marked with an asterisk (*) are ones that I've transcribed here. The other story links go back to the Hoosier State Chronicles newspaper archive. (Read why, here.)

(*) The Amulet of Marduk as published in Evening Republican, January 31, 1917

Mary Rothway's Memory

The Two Charioteers as published in Evening Republican, February 15, 1917

Collections #

Tracer of Egos, Spectre Library (2007) - Introduction by Morgan A. Wallace. Contains all twelve stories. (OUT OF PRINT)

Dr. Martinus, Occultist #

In progress.

Other Occultists #

In progress.