Egan, Pierce (c.1774–1849), popular novelist and sporting journalist, was the eldest son of James Egan, labourer; his uncle was John Egan (qv), the politician. Although there is no record of his birth or early life, there is reason to believe that he was born in Dublin around 1774, shortly before his family moved to London. In 1786 Egan was apprenticed to a printer, Lockington Johnson, of Bloomsbury, where he trained for seven years. He was not formally educated but was largely self-taught and read voraciously. He worked as a printer, supplementing his income by working as a parliamentary reporter. Fascinated by sport, and especially boxing, in 1812 he made his mark on the literary world when he was commissioned to write a history of pugilism. Boxiana ran monthly throughout 1812, and was published in one volume in 1813; four other volumes followed, establishing Egan as the most popular literary figure of the day after Sir Walter Scott. His writing was lively and stylish, and he used italics, capitals, and exclamation marks indiscriminately for additional emphasis. An Egan fight description was instantly identifiable, full of slang and embellishment, and more concerned with entertainment than accuracy. Reflecting his background, he would often give special treatment to the histories of Irish boxers, or those that he claimed as Irish.
Contributing to various newspapers on sporting matters, around 1816 he took a permanent position with the Weekly Dispatch. His most famous work was published in September 1820, the first part of his monthly Life in London, or, The day and night scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic. It became an immediate success and the publishers were barely able to match the demand. A number of stage adaptations followed, perhaps the most successful being W. T. Moncrieff's Tom and Jerry in 1821; Egan attempted to stage an adaptation of his own work, but the proposal was rejected. It was only in 1821 that he acknowledged authorship of Boxiana and received the accolades that were long overdue. After a dispute with his publishers, it appears that they commissioned the fourth volume of Boxiana, published in 1824, from Egan's great rival Jonathan Badcock. In the same year he was sacked from the Despatch, possibly because of jealousy over the success of Life in London. Not to be outdone by such publications as Bell's Life in London, on 1 February 1824 he established his own serial publication Pierce Egan's Life in London and Sporting Guide. He also wrote on the trial of John Thurtell and Joseph Hunt in 1824, and his sensational style contributed to the huge popular interest in the case. In 1827 he began Finish to Life in London, which contained some of his best writing. With the decline in boxing's popularity, Egan spent the next five years adapting and customising his work for different regions. In 1834 he returned to Ireland to stage Life in Dublin, or, Tom, Jerry and Logic on their travels.
An energetic and healthy man, despite his heavy drinking, Egan had an optimism that was rarely shaken. His legacy was threefold: he is credited with creating modern sporting journalism; establishing the serial form as a popular medium; and influencing the work of Charles Dickens. In various tributes he was known as ‘Fancy's child’, ‘Glorious Pierce’, and ‘The great lexicographer of the ring’.
He married, on 7 July 1806, Catherine Povey at St Marylebone, London. They had at least two daughters, and a son, Pierce James Egan (1814–80), who contributed to his father's works and won fame as a writer of sensational historical novels, and cheap romances. Pierce Egan, the elder, died 3 August 1849, at his home at 9 Regent's Terrace, Islington, London.