PUTATIVE AUTHOR

the author of a work as defined in the work rather than the actual author, or the person or character said to be the author of the work when this is different from the actual author. For example, in William Makepeace Thackeray's The Newcomes (185355), the character Arthur Pendennis is the narrator and supposed author of the work. The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins has several putative authors, as the narrative is supposedly a collection of documents and letters written by various characters involved in the story.