A PRISONER IN FAIRYLAND (THE BOOK THAT "UNCLE PAUL" WROTE). London: Macmillan & Co., Limited, 1913. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 1-506 [507-508: ads] + undated 8-page publisher's catalogue inserted at rear, original decorated olive-green cloth, front panel stamped in gold and black, spine panel stamped in gold. First edition. Presentation copy with contemporary signed inscription by Blackwood to the children of English writer Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) on front free endpaper: "To the Fairy Children / at Kingsland / from Algernon Blackwood." Belloc and Blackwood were close friends and Blackwood was a frequent visitor at Belloc's retreat at Kingsland in Sussex. The "aspect of writing for children increasingly fascinated Blackwood, especially as he was finding himself more immediately surrounded by them. There was his own nephew, Patrick, the son of his elder brother ... Baron de Knoop had children by an earlier marriage and, during the years of the First World War, Baroness de Knoop looked after three Polish orphans. Blackwood also frequently entertained the Belloc children, especially after the death of Hilaire's wife Elodie in February 1914. To all of these Blackwood became 'Uncle Paul,' and he delighted in having the fun of the children without the responsibility. Blackwood was of the opinion that children, like animals, had not lost their instinctive closeness to Nature or their innocence, both of which became dulled by civilization and overbearing adults. Children adored Blackwood because he behaved and saw the world like them -- the world of wonder in a daisy, a cloud or a butterfly. With A PRISONER IN FAIRYLAND Blackwood ... showed signs that he was losing control of his subject matter, swamping the spirit of his theme with prolixity and a surfeit of sentiment. That view, though, was not shared by all of the critics or readers of the day. A PRISONER IN FAIRYLAND went through a rapid succession of reprintings and was one of the most popular of his novels." - Ashley, Algernon Blackwood: A Bio-Bibliography, pp. 18-19. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 183. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy Volume II, p. 22. Bleiler (1978), p. 25. Reginald 01397. Ashley A.10.1. Binding lightly rubbed at head and tail of spine panel and corner tips, inner hinges tender with several hairline cracks, a near fine, bright copy. A wonderful association copy. (#71689).
Price: $1,250.00
No statement of printing.