STRANGE STORIES FROM THE LODGE OF LEISURES. Translated from the Chinese by George Soulie. London: Constable & Company Ltd, 1913. Octavo, pp. [1-2] [i-iv] v-xi [xii] xiii-xiv [1] 2-166 [167-168: ads] [note: first leaf is a blank], original decorated plum cloth, front and spine panels stamped in reddish-orange. First edition of this translation. A translation of twenty-five of the most characteristic of the more than three hundred myths, including many ghost stories, collected in the late seventeenth century by P'u Sung-Ling in LIAO CHAI CHIH YI (work [largely?] completed circa 1680 and circulated in manuscript; first extant published edition, 1766). Includes "The Corpse of the Blood Drinker," a horrific tale of vampirism, "The Ghost in Love," "The Laughing Ghost" and other supernatural tales. "Each is a small gem of economy and style; the collection as a whole set the standard for Oriental fantastic literature." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 340. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 466o. Clute and Grant (eds), The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, p. 734. Bleiler (1978), p. 183. Not in Reginald (1979; 1992). Spine panel just a bit faded, an attractive, nearly fine copy. A scarce book. (#156018).
Price: $350.00
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