DIVERS VANITIES. London: Methuen & Co., [1905]. Octavo, pp. [i-vi] vii-viii [1-2] 3-356 + 40-page publisher's catalogue dated "September 1905" inserted at rear, original dark green cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, bottom edge untrimmed. First edition. Collects seventeen stories, five of which were reprinted for the selected edition of Morrison in the SHORT STORIES OF TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY series in 1929. "The Legend of Lapwater Hall" is a ghost story. "The Black Badger" and "The Torn Heart" are tales of witchcraft. "All three involve the recurring character of Cunning Murrell, who, as a local white witch, functions as a quasi-psychic detective. These stories bear some resemblance to Manly Wade Wellman's later stories of Appalachian magic featuring Silver John. Definitely a notch above the average, although the author's emphasis is on regionalistic verisimilitude and the phenomenology of crime rather than of the supernatural." - Robert Eldridge. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978), Day (1963), or Reginald (1979; 1992). Hubin (1994), p. 586. Wolff 4939. Considerable damp staining to cloth on front and rear covers, endpapers tanned, else a very good copy. A scarce book. (#118785).
Price: $225.00
"First published in 1905" on copyright page.