2/28/1830 A major Payn appears

February 28, 1830.  English author James Payn was born on this date in Maidenhead.  He wrote many novels, and books of essays and short stories.  But he owes his place on this page to one accomplishment: as editor of Cornhill Magazine he turned down Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet.  Yup.  He is the man who rejected Sherlock Holmes.

And you thought you were having a bad day.