Posterity does not work like that. Many authors who were popular disappeared completely from memory, while other who were relatively unknown became extremely po

Posterity does not work like that. Many authors who were popular disappeared completely from memory, while other who were relatively unknown became extremely popular decades after their death. Academics play a major role in what we remember about more than 100 years ago, much more than actual success when the book was published. Octave Mirbeau was much much more popular than Marcel Proust when they were both active, but you probably know much more about the latter.