In the context of literature-centred narrative theory, so-called ‘optional-narrator theories’ have gained momentum in recent years. This development goes hand in hand with a remarkable shift in the understanding of ‘author ’ and ‘narrator’ and in whether to assume the categorical presence of ‘narratorial’ mediation in fictional narrative texts. The present article embarks on this ‘trend’ so as to review the historical foundations of the current optional-narrator debate. This puts to the fore the widespread assumption that what Gérard Genette called ‘the myth of narrator-less narration’ can be traced back to at least Percy Lubbock; i. e., that it originates in the early theory of the novel during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Said assumption is to be refuted, which does not only reveal basic misperceptions in the reception of Lubbock, but also general problems concerning terminological and theoretical shifts during the transition from the early theory of the novel to ‘classical’ narratology. The respective findings will, moreover, prove of interest for critically reviewing current optional-narrator approaches.