HAUNTINGS: FANTASTIC STORIES. London: William Heinemann, 1890. Octavo, pp. [i-vii] viii-xi [xii] [1-2] 3-237 [238: blank] [1] 2-6: ads, original decorated terra cotta cloth, front and rear panels stamped in black, spine panel stamped in black and gold, black coated endpapers. First edition. Classic collection of four tales of the supernatural; "Amour Dure," "Dionea," "Oke of Okehurst; or, the Phantom Lover" (her brilliant short novel first published separately as A PHANTOM LOVER in 1886), and "A Wicked Voice." "Excellent stories, filled with good local color and antiquarian detail. One of the landmarks of Victorian supernatural fiction." - Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 989. "The stories are powerful and very striking, among the finest of their kind." - Barron (ed), Horror Literature 2-48. "Lee's stories are really in a category by themselves. Intelligent, amusingly ironic, imaginative, original, they deserve more than the passing attention that they have attracted." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 256-57. According to Vernon Lee, the "first edition of HAUNTINGS is extremely valuable ... because almost immediately after printing the whole edition (i.e. all except author's & press copies) was burnt in a warehouse." Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, p. 114. Tymn (ed), Horror Literature 3-142. Wilson, Shadows in the Attic, p. 326. Bleiler (1978), p. 121. Reginald 08778. NCBEL III 1445. Wolff 5375. Spine panel darkened, some wear, soiling and staining to cloth, inner front hinge partially cracked, spine lean, hairline cracks between several gatherings, contents a bit shaken, a fair, internally clean copy. An important association copy of a scarce book seldom found in nice condition with Maurice Baring's bookplate affixed to the front paste-down. Vernon Lee's collection FOR MAURICE (1927) is dedicated to Baring (1874-1945), UK diplomat and writer who became an expert on Russia and its literature. (#170235).
Price: $1,250.00
No statement of printing.