{{Short description|1912 novel by Harry Leon Wilson}} {{italic title}} {{about|the 1912 novel|the 1936 film|Bunker Bean (film)}} [[File:Bunker Bean, 1912 illustration.png|thumb|Illustration of Bunker Bean by Frederic Rodrigo Gruger from the October 12, 1912 issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post''.]] '''''Bunker Bean''''' is a novel by Harry Leon Wilson. It was originally published as a serial under the title '''''His Majesty Bunker Bean''''' in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' beginning in the October 12, 1912 publication and ending in the December 14, 1912 edition.{{sfn|Kummer|1963|page=73}} The nine issues were illustrated by Frederic Rodrigo Gruger.{{sfn|Perlman|1978|page=208}} Well received, it was published in book form in January 1913 by Doubleday under the title ''Bunker Bean''.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Literary and Trade Notes|work=Publishers Weekly|page=159|date=January 18, 1913}}</ref> The novel included one of the earliest representations of the "flapper" in literature; although many of the later stylized associations with that term such as bobbed hair and hip flasks did not emerge until later in the 1920s.{{sfn|Kummer|1963|page=76}}
==Plot== The story depicts shy and shrinking stenographer Bunker Bean escaping from the troubled reality around him through his dreams. He seeks help from the spiritualist Countess Casanova who convinces him that he is the reincarnation of Napoleon Bonaparte. The news bolsters him into new confidence temporarily only to be deflated when he loses confidence in being able to win the affections of his boss's daughter known as "The Flapper". His faith in himself is renewed once again when he seeks the help of another psychic medium, Professor Balthasar, who discovers that he was a king of Egypt named Ram Tah prior to being Napoleon.{{sfn|Kummer|1963|page=73}}
==Adaptations== Playwright Lee Wilson Dodd adapted ''Bunker Bean'' into a hit stage play, ''His Majesty Bunker Bean'',<ref name="WT">{{cite news|title=Play Upsets Old Theory|work=The Washington Times|date= October 3, 1916|page= 2}}</ref> which starred the actor Taylor Holmes in the title role.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/10/03/archives/laughter-aplenty-in-bunker-bean-an-amusing-farce-contrived-from.html?searchResultPosition=1|title=LAUGHTER APLENTY IN 'BUNKER BEAN'; An Amusing Farce Contrived from Harry Leon Wilson's Famous Story|work=The New York Times|date=October 3, 1916|page= 9}}</ref> It premiered in Detroit on September 27, 1915 at the Garrick Theatre,<ref>{{cite news|title=The Theaters: Garrick|work=Detroit Times|date=September 28, 1915|page= 16}}</ref> and then had a six-month run in Chicago at the Cort Theatre.<ref>{{cite news|title=His Majesty Bunker Bean|work=South Bend News Times|date=March 22, 1916|page=9}}</ref> It toured nationally prior to reaching Broadway's Astor Theatre in October 1916.<ref name="WT"/> Both the novel and the play were used as the source material for three film adaptations: ''His Majesty, Bunker Bean'' (1918),{{sfn|Pollès|2001|page=313}} ''His Majesty, Bunker Bean'' (1925),{{sfn|Munden|1971|page=354}} and ''Bunker Bean'' (1936).{{sfn|Shaheen|2001|page=116}}
==References== ===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/harryleonwilsons00kumm/page/72/mode/2up?q=%22Bunker+Bean%22+%221912%22|title=Harry Leon Wilson: Some Account of the Truimphs and Tribulations of an American Popular Writer|last=Kummer|first= George Nicholas|year=1963|publisher=Press of Western Reserve University|isbn=1013496744}} *{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilminst00amer/page/354/mode/2up?q=%22His+Majesty+Bunker+Bean%22+%22Lee+Wilson+Dodd%22|year=1971|title=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780835204408|editor-first=Kenneth White|editor-last= Munden}} *{{cite book|title=The Golden Age of American Illustration: F.R. Gruger and His Circle|last=Perlman|first=Bennard B.|year= 1978|publisher=North Light Books|isbn=9780891340119}} *{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lamomiedekheopsa0000poll/page/312/mode/2up?q=%22His+Majesty+Bunker+Bean%22+%22Lee+Wilson+Dodd%22+%22Jack+Pickford%22|title=La Momie de Khéops à Hollywood: Généalogie d'un Mythe|last=Pollès|first=Renan|publisher=Éditions de l'Amateur|year=2001|isbn=9782859173036|language=French}} *{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/reelbadarabshowh00shah/page/116/mode/2up?q=%22His+Majesty+Bunker+Bean%22+%22Lee+Wilson+Dodd%22|publisher=Olive Branch Press|year=2001|title=Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People|first= Jack G.|last= Shaheen|isbn=9781322483856}}
==External links== *{{cite journal|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Saturday_Evening_Post/uu1x_N1iFegC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Harry+Leon+Wilson%22+%22Saturday+Evening+Post%22+%22Bunker+Bean%22+1912&pg=RA10-PA3&printsec=frontcover|title=His Majesty Bunker Bean|author=Harry Leon Wilson|volume=185|date=October 12, 1912|number=15|pages=3–5|journal=The Saturday Evening Post}} *{{cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/15743/pg15743-images.html|title=Bunker Bean|author=Harry Leon Wilson|year=1913|publisher=Doubleday|via=Project Gutenberg}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1912 novels Category:Novels first published in serial form