TWO STORIES OF THE SEEN AND UNSEEN: THE OPEN DOOR; OLD LADY MARY. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, MDCCCXXXV [1885]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1-3] 4-212, original decorated blue-gray cloth, front panel stamped in brown and gray, spine panel stamped in brown, black coated endpapers. First edition. Collects "The Open Door" and "Old Lady Mary," two fine ghostly tales. "The Open Door," was praised by M. R. James who considered it to be one of the "really good ghost stories I know wherein the elements of beauty and pity dominate terror." "Much stronger than the Little Pilgrim stories, these melancholy tales of unease offer a subtle sense of desolation which stands at one extreme of the Victorian ghost story spectrum, the other being occupied by shocking accounts of supernatural vengeance." - Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-75. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, p. 141. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 1256. Bleiler (ed), Supernatural Fiction Writers: Fantasy and Horror, pp. 266-67. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy Volume II, p. 11. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 308-09. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-186. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 395. Reginald 10970. Not in Bleiler (1948; 1978). Not in Sadleir or Wolff. Private owner's signature in ink at top edge of front cover, hairline crack along inner front hinge which is still holding tight, a very good copy. Actually, a lovely copy of this book. A very scarce book, especially in such nice condition. (#151834).
Price: $650.00 save 30% $455.00
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