{"title":"Weird \u0026 Supernatural","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"le-fanu-j-s-the-wyvern-mystery-a-novel-1889-4554","title":"The Wyvern Mystery. A Novel.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Ward and Downey.  . 1889.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eFrom the Libraries of Barry Humphries and Montague Summers.  \u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst single volume edition. 8vo. 191x125mm. pp. vii [ibl], 351 [1]. Six engraved plates by Brinsley Sheridan Le Fanu. Publisher's decorated cloth. Slight bumping and rubbing to corners and to head and foot of spine which is a little rubbed and darkened. Hinges weak and some minor marking but otherwise a very good copy of the first single volume edition of the novel initially issued in three volumes in 1869. The front pastedown has the striking St Jerome bookplate of Alphonsus Montague Summers designed by Eric Gill, together with the bookplate of the comedian Barry Humphries. It is unsurprising that the darkly gothic Le Fanu should have appealed to Summers who has been described as \"arguably the most seminal twentieth century purveyor of pop culture occultism.\" Nor that Summers, with his theatricality and taste for adopting multiple personalities, should have appealed to the flamboyant Humphries.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"LE FANU, J.S","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55291527659897,"sku":"4554","price":3750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4554.Lefanu_1.jpg?v=1749122187"},{"product_id":"gordon-john-the-giant-under-the-snow-1968-4947","title":"The Giant under the Snow.","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Hutchinson Junior Books. 1968.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 184x120mm. pp. 184. Grey cloth, spine lettered in red. Original illustrated dustjacket. Apart from some light shelfwear and a little foxing to the edges, this is in excellent condition throughout. \u003cem\u003eThe Giant under the Snow\u003c\/em\u003e was John Gordon's first novel and established him as a striking new voice in children's supernatural fiction. It concerns mystery dogs, lost treasure and epic battles between good and evil. Gordon moved to East Anglia from County Durham as a child and the strange flat land of the Fens and its strong sense of folkloric tradition was an important influence on his writing from the very start.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"GORDON, John","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193329754489,"sku":"4947","price":350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4947_1_892dc7e3-c51b-427b-9d6e-2e82907c7646.jpg?v=1777656818"},{"product_id":"gregory-h-b-dark-sanctuary-1940-4949","title":"Dark Sanctuary","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Rider \u0026amp; Co.. [1940].\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003e\"one of the great novels of supernatural horror\"\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 182x115mm. pp. 288. Blue cloth, lettered in gilt to spine. Original illustrated mauve dustjacket. Rubbing and slight chipping to edges of the jacket, marking and slight soiling to spine and lower cover of jacket. Internally very good but the text block is a little cocked and there is some spotting in places and slight soiling to the edges. Overall a very good copy of what is widely regarded as one of the great novels of supernatural horror and an important successor to the work of H.P. Lovecraft and Bram Stoker. Indeed, it was the inclusion of Dark Sanctuary in Karl Edward Wagner's 1983 \"13 Best Supernatural Horror Novels\" that revived interest in Gregory and this extraordinary novel which weaves, around the plot, much occult arcana. \u003cbr\u003eMost of the copies of the first edition of \u003cem\u003eDark Sanctuary \u003c\/em\u003ewere destroyed in an air raid during the Blitz and it is said that only twelve made it into circulation. We suspect that a few more may have survived but the book is undoubtedly rare, and the original dustjacket is almost unfindable. OCLC records it in only six libraries with Library Hub adding the BL and only one copy appears in the auction records.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"GREGORY, H.B","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193330213241,"sku":"4949","price":6000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/4949_1.jpg?v=1777655370"},{"product_id":"linnaeus-banks-mrs-g-through-the-night-tales-of-shades-and-shadows-1882-5117","title":"Through the Night: Tales of Shades and Shadows","description":"\u003cbr\u003eManchester and London: Abel, Heywood and Simpkin Marshall. 1882.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eA Dour Weird. A rare collection of Victorian supernatural tales\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 8vo. 183x120mm. pp. [8], 303 [1bl], 20 adverts dated February 1883. Publishers red cloth, block in black. Very light bumping to head and foot of spine. Some foxing but overall a very good copy. Worldcat locates only ten copies and none appear in the auction records.\u003cbr\u003eMrs G. Linnaeus Banks (aka Isabella Banks, née Isabella Varley) is best known for her novel \u003cem\u003eThe Manchester Man\u003c\/em\u003e which tells the story of the growth of the city through the life of its hero Jabez Clegg. Mrs Banks was a leading figure in the literary, intellectual and political life of Manchester.\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eShe was also interested in local folklore and legend and it is these that lie behind\u003cem\u003e Through the Night: \u003c\/em\u003eindeed, in the appendix, Mrs Banks provides the sources for each of the fourteen tales. The stories were originally published in periodicals and were collected here for the first time towards the end of her life. The collection is firmly in the tradition of the Victorian supernatural spine-chiller - ghosts, fairies, dreams, voodoo and curses - and, with its antiquarian interests can perhaps be seen as a precursor to M.R. James. The work is best summed up in the wonderful title of one of the stories - \u003cem\u003eA Dour Weird\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"LINNAEUS BANKS, Mrs G","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193330508153,"sku":"5117","price":1000.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/5117_2.jpg?v=1777655426"},{"product_id":"shearing-joseph-margaret-bowen-the-fetch-1942-5118","title":"The Fetch","description":"\u003cbr\u003eLondon: Hutchinson and Co.. 1942.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch4 class=\"vrb_heading\"\u003eRare supernatural crime\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_desc\"\u003eFirst edition. 184x130mm. pp. 184. Pale blue cloth, lettered in red. Original illustrated dustjacket. Top and bottom edges of jacket a little chipped and two small closed tears to foot of jacket. Internally very good but with some toning to the edges. Overall a very good copy. Rare (Worldcat recording ten copies) and especially so in the dustjacket.\u003cbr\u003eMargaret Long wrote under seven pseudonyms, principally as Marjorie Bowen. As Joseph Shearing she wrote crime mysteries, based on true stories overlaid with the supernatural. The Fetch is set in 1870 England and concerns a young aristocrat's obsession with the murder of a girl committed by one of his forebears. Unsurprisingly, this causes the girl's spectral double (her \"fetch\") to be stirred up and the novel charts the hero's descent into madness and the thwarting of the romantic plans of his fiancée Adelaide Fenton.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_note\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_prov\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"vrb_biblio\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"SHEARING, Joseph. [Margaret Bowen]","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57193337487737,"sku":"5118","price":2250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1484\/0910\/files\/5118_1.jpg?v=1777655594"}],"url":"https:\/\/voewoodrarebooks.com\/collections\/weird-supernatural.oembed","provider":"Voewood Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}