The writings of the Irish-American author and editor Frank Harris (1856-1931) ranged from the scandalous to the distinguished.

Frank Harris was born on Feb. 14, 1856, in Galway, Ireland. A small, ugly, passionate boy with a quick mind, he won a scholarship to Cambridge University but took the prize of £10, and ran off to the United States. His odd jobs in New York, Chicago, and Texas are recounted with dubious accuracy in On the Trail: Being My Reminiscences as a Cowboy (1930).

At the University of Kansas, Harris mixed law studies with precocious sensuality, became an American citizen, and attained admission to the bar. His decision to leave for England and then to write as a correspondent in the Russo-Turkish War reflected his stormy, ambitious disposition. He subsequently studied at German universities and sought out distinguished contemporaries, whom he tried to impress with his reading, rich voice, and eloquent pronouncements.

In...