Edward Irenaeus Prime-Stevenson (1858-1942) was an American writer. Born in Madison, New Jersey, Prime-Stevenson was raised by Paul E. Stevenson, a Presbyterian minister, and Cornelia Prime, who hailed from a family of prominent academics. After obtaining a law degree, Prime-Stevenson embarked on a career as a novelist, journalist, and impassioned defender of homosexuality. In 1901, he moved to Europe, where he would live for the rest of his life. Imre: A Memorandum (1906), a novel, was published under the pseudonym Xavier Mayne in Naples, Italy. Praised for its realistic and positive depiction of romance between two men, the novel has inspired renewed interest in recent years from scholars and readers interested in the historical representation of homosexuality in literature.
