St. George Rathborne (1854–1938) was an American writer of popular adventure fiction, particularly books for boys and young readers. His work flourished in the early twentieth century, when publishers issued inexpensive, fast-paced series novels centered on scouting, travel, exploration, sport, military action, automobiles, motorcycles, boats, and aviation. Rathborne wrote or was credited with numerous juvenile series, including the Border Boys, the Boy Scouts, the Motor Boat Club, the Comrades of the Saddle, the Dreadnought Boys, and the Winged Warriors. Typical Rathborne stories feature resourceful young protagonists confronting smugglers, criminals, natural dangers, foreign intrigue, or wartime threats. The books emphasize courage, loyalty, practical ingenuity, outdoor skills, and energetic action. His novels were designed chiefly as entertaining serial adventures rather than as literary realism. Although little reliable biographical information survives beyond the dates generally associated with his name, Rathborne remains a recognizable figure in the history of American boys’ series fiction and early twentieth-century popular publishing.
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