Ryan Layne Whitney

Ryan Layne Whitney was born in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A., in 1953, and has lived in the environs of that city all his life---he lives there now, and will probably die there. A degree in music composition is the official result of his university education, but he is also an avid and reasonably accomplished classical pianist, clavichordist, and harpsichordist: one can see many of his videos on YouTube under the channel name "teafruitbat." His favorite composers range from Bach, Purcell, and Scarlatti to Rachmaninoff and Scriabin---and many in between.

In 2016 Mr. Whitney edited and published an edition of the "30 Sonatas for Harpsichord" by the 18th-century Spanish composer Sebastián de Albero (ISBN: 978-1-329-66028-1), and the same composer's "Obras para Clavicordio o piano forte" (or "Works for Harpsichord or FortePiano" --- "clavicordio" was a term for the harpsichord in early 18th century Spain) (ISBN: 978-1387793099). An edition of the clavichord works of the 18th century German composer Ernst Wilhelm Wolf looms in the future.

A devoted reader and collector of books, Mr. Whitney has written The Primal Shrug, a humorous but eminently useful self-help book, and Episodes from the Life of Gideon Millwater, which is not in the least useful. He is currently working on a complete newly typeset edition of The Works of Charles Robert Maturin (see details below), the early-19th-century Irish author of Melmoth the Wanderer.

His interests in literature include ancient classics, ancient Greek language, philosophy, mostly 17th- through 19th-century literature (English, Russian, Portuguese, French, German, and American, mainly), and poetry from Homer to Wallace Stevens. As for writing poetry, he has no talent for it, save for doggerel verse of a peculiarly unedifying nature.

His quiet life of study and contemplation is devoted to music, books, and a few friends.

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A new 9-volume edition of The Works of Charles Robert Maturin is underway, edited by Ryan Layne Whitney. The hardcover edition includes newly typeset texts, with introduction and footnotes, carefully produced using the original editions.

The volumes in the completed series are as follows:

1. Fatal Revenge; or, The Family

of Montorio (1807) (ISBN: 978-1-304-37342-8)

2. The Wild Irish Boy (1808) (ISBN: 978-1-304-84686-5)

3. The Milesian Chief (1812) (ISBN: 978-1-312-27626-6)

4. Women; or, Pour et Contre; a

Tale (1818) (ISBN: 978-1-312-84588-6)

5. Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) (ISBN: 978-1-329-60493-3)

6. The Albigenses (1824) (ISBN: 978-1-387-06341-3)

7. Plays (1816-1819) (ISBN: 978-1-387-95836-8)

8. Sermons

9. Supplement (Idman biography, contemporary reviews and biographical notices)

At the completion of the entire 9-volume hardcover edition, a paperback edition will be produced.