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    201 views8 pages

    Algernon Blackwood - Book Collector

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    In Limine
    Abstract fron The Book Collector.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Courtesy of Hulton Picture Library. Igernon Blackwood has been called “the leading writer of supernatural fiction during the Edwardian and Georg- ian periods”. His story “The Willows” has been rated by many critics as the finest single story of the supernatural. Yet until recently, his works were neither highly sought nor collected. Indeed many, especially his novels, have been forgotten. Possibly this was due to the feeling that most of his best work was easily available in two bumper omnibus volumes: “Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural” and “Tales of the Mysterious and Macabre” (later ALGERNON BLACKWOOD ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR AUTHORS OF SUPERNATURAL FICTION, WHO WROTE HUNDREDS OF STORIES AND ESSAYS BY MIKE ASHLEY combined as “Tales of Terror and Darkness”). Perhaps these removed the incentive for collectors to look any further. Unfortunately these compilations did not include Blackwood’s best work and today, with the rest of his output long out of print, it requires a little effort to discover some quite breathtaking and unique works of fiction, To read Blackwood is to discover a writer who had a greater perception and interpretation of the supernatural than any other. Blackwood led a long and very active life, spanning 82 years. He did not begin to write seriously until he was 36 and though he continued to write until his death, the bulk of his output — and certainly his most impressive work — was crammed into an inspired period of productivity between 1906 and 1916. In all, he published eleven novels, twelve short story collections, eleven children’s books, two plays and an autobiography. There are an additional sixteen collections reprinting stories from earlier volumes. Only 151 of his stories appeared in book form, though I believe FOR OUR LATEST ANTIQUARIAN & OUT-OF-PRINT BOOK CATALOGUE — NOW READY — WRITE TO: Clive Harman, 36 Nithsdale Crescent, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 4HY. there may be at least half as many again tucked away in the pages of old news- papers and obscure periodicals. Then there are over 100 items of journalism, essays, reviews and reminiscences. Add to this the many radio and television talks that Black- wood gave and you have some idea of his varied and prolific output. I estimate his fiction production alone amounts to some two and a half million words, all of it associated with the supernatural or mysticism. I can think of few other writers in this field whose output equals Black- moods: EPISODES In 1923 Blackwood completed what he then regarded as his last book, “Episodes Before Thirty”. It looked back, openly and objectively, on his early years up to his return from America in 1899. It concen- trates on his years in New York, and particularly on an astonishing three-month period from October to December 1892 when Blackwood, still an impressionable and naive young man, became unwittingly associated with a petty criminal. This led to Blackwood, at the time suffering from a Boc' books on Sports, particularly welcome by appointment. Medmenham, Nr. Marlow Buckinghamshire SL7 2HL Antiquarian and Secondhand Books bought and _ sold. Specialists in books by WOMEN WRITERS, First Editions and and catalogues sent on request. Postal busiriess, but visitors HENLEY (0491) 571218 SS EESE5 ESR 55E2 55555555 SSSSSE fever, dragging himself from his sick bed to seek out the man and bring him to the police. It is a shame that the book rather rapidly scans over the rest of Blackwood’s adventures in America as, to use the old cliche, he never seemed to have a dull moment. ARDENT In brief, to encapsulate Blackwood’s life up to 1899: he had been born at Shooter's Hill in North Kent on March 14th, 1869. Both his parents had been ardent revival- ists in a period when evangelicism was at its peak. He led a rather sheltered childhood, finding that he feared rather than hoped his parents’ belief was true. Education at the strict school of the Moravian Brotherhood in the Black Forest caused Blackwood, if anything, to rebel spiritually against the burdensome yoke. A chance discovery of a book of “Yoga Aphorisms” opened Black- wood’s eyes to the world of Eastern Mystic- ism, and he never looked back. He became a tireless delver into all forms of alternative religion and philosophy and had become a self-declared Buddhist and Theosophist before he was 21. el nl | THE LYDIAN BOOKSTORE kmer House FENCING. Books searched for 51 Blackwood found that his God was manifest in Nature itself. He became a pan- theist and spent much of his later life as far away from civilisation as possible Spiritually, Blackwood found himself far closer to Nature and Mother Earth than we so-called ‘civilised’ mortals ensnared by day- to-day existence. As such, Blackwood was far more in tune with the world around him and became aware of things which we may regard as supernatural, but which to him were natural. He firmly believed that once divested of the regular trappings of everyday life one acquired an expanded consciousness which was already possessed by animals and, to some extent, by children. Blackwood had not completely form- ulated this belief by the time his rather despairing father despatched his son to Canada in 1890, but it rapidly took shape over the next few years and was fully formed on his return to England. Blackwood was supposed to establish himself as a farmer but he soon revealed he had no talent whatever for business, His dairy farm failed after six months, A later hotel FOR SALE: COMICS (not U.S.) BOYS’ PAPERS, ANNUALS HARDBACKS, BOUND VOLS: LARGEST STOCK of its kind ANYWHERE in 6 storerooms on 2 floors. Sorry — lists not issued, stock is far too large. Your SPECIFIC requirements please with an SAE. COMPLETE RANGE of Howard Baker facsimile volumes, also BOOK CLUB SPECIALS, List of these available, Large second-hand stock of both items above. Wants please. All prices reasonable — that’s why I’ve kept going as Britain's principal dealer in OLD BOYS’ BOOKS for 28 years! Suitable items purchased at top prices. Postal business, but visitors very welcome BY APPOINTMENT. You'll be amazed! (No phoning between noon and 2pm). NORMAN SHAW (Dept, BMC). See aan a toe Oe oo ae) AEE LONDON SE19 2HZ, Tel. (01) 771 9857 xr meet Cotere vets) if 'GILDEROY eins ALGERNON BLACKWOOD “Dudley & Gilderoy” (1929), a children's tale about the London adventures of a cat and a parrot, ee venture also failed after a similar period. Nevertheless it was in Canada that his first writings appeared in print — all non-fiction — in the ‘Canadian Methodist Magazine’, where he worked briefly as a sub-editor. The first was “Christmas In England” (December he REPORTER Blackwood came to New York in 1892 and found work as a reporter. As his auto- biography reveals, he managed to survive by this and occasional other jobs until he became private secretary to the banker James Speyer. Through one of his contacts, he made his last attempt as a business man setting himself up in the fledgling dried milk business. He was still employed in this trade when he returned to England. It is a shame that “Episodes Before Thirty” does not go further. Blackwood ends it by saying: “Of mystical, psychic, or other so-called ‘occult’ experiences, I have purposely said nothing . . . ”. Blackwood 52 ALGERNON BLACKWOOD SHOCKS ©. GRAYSON & GRAYSON Mayra LONDON | ee re | “Shocks”, the Blackwood novel published by Grayson in 1935, is worth around £10-£15 today. later toyed with the idea of comp- leting “Episodes After Thirty” but this came to nothing. But, when Blackwood did at last turn his hand to writing fiction, all of his work was inspired by personal exper- iences, either his own or those of close friends. Thus a close examination of his works will enable you to gain some idea of what Blackwood did in later life. This is what makes collecting Blackwood so fasc- inating, as the man was always doing some- thing of interest. He was a ceaseless trav- eller for one thing. Although after 1908 he made his home in Switzerland, he continued to explore. His travels took him through almost every country in Europe and beyond to Egypt and the Caucasus. He even hitch- hiked through Spain during that country’s civil war! He had joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn — a secret society which studied Hebrew magic and has become notorious because of the activities of one of its early members, Aleister Crowley. Black- wood was less inclined to magical studies than he was to mystical and so faded away from the Golden Dawn. Its teachings, however, are evident in much of his fiction, especially the novel, “The Human Chord”, During the First World War Blackwood served as an undercover agent in Switz- erland until his situation became precarious and he then shifted into France to serve in the Red Cross. All this gives some ind- ication of Blackwood’s life and what kind of experiences he had to translate into his fiction, LOVE His first short story had been written while in New York. “The Story of Karl Ott”, an untypical tale of unrequited love, appeared in the October 1896 issue of the ‘Pall Mall Magazine’. The occasional short story followed but at that time Black- wood found no urge to be a writer, using the stories only as a channel through which he could unburden or express his accumul- ation of experiences. It was only through a chance meeting in 1906 with an old reporter friend, Angus Hamilton, that Blackwood’s Gilbert & Sullivan Rees, Terence: Thespis. A Gilbert & Sullivan Enigma. Ills, 1964, Pict. wraps. Rees, Terence & Spencer, Roderick: Sing With Sullivan. Anthology of Music for Voice. 1977. Pict. wraps. 19 songs including 17 of Sullivan's lesser-known works which have been out-of-print for many years, and other songs which were cut after first performances. Walmisley, G.H. & Claude, A.: Tit-Willow, or Notes & Jottings on Gilbert & Sullivan Operas. Illus. Felicity Ashbee, plus Photos. Pub. G.H. Walmisley, nd (c1961). Each £6.00. Post Free for Cash with Order, Existing stocks of each titles available now. C. B. Paramor 25 St. Mary’s Square, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 OZ. Tel. 0638 664416 Trade enquiries welcome. first book appeared. Hamilton borrowed some of Blackwood’s stories and, unbe- known to Blackwood, sent them to pub- lisher Eveleigh Nash. Nash’s first reader, Maude ffoulkes, was the first to see them. She recalls the moment in her own volume of reminiscences, “My Own Past” (Cassell, 1915): “When I glanced down the first page 1 paused breathless, because it was suddenly borne upon me that this was the work of a genius!” Blackwood was initially bewildered by the publisher’s offer but nevertheless acc- epted, and his first book, “The Empty House”, appeared in 1906. This book has since gone through many printings and editions and copies are not difficult to find. It doesn’t include his best stories, but all of them are good by any standards. CLASSIC This book was followed by “The List- ener” (1907), which has also seen several editions but is less easy to find. It is this volume that contains the classic “The Willows”, inspired by Blackwood’s trip along the River Danube between Vienna and Budapest in 1900. With his third book, “John Silence” (1908), Blackwood found success. This volume of five stories, covering the cases of a psychic doctor who investigates the Paranormal, was taken to the public's heart. It rapidly went through many editions in Britain and America and copies are not hard to come by, other than the first from Eveleigh Nash. Unaccountably, the book has been out of print since the early 1970s and has never been published in paper- back. UROBOROUS BOOKS in & Out of Print Occult & Oriental Books For catalogue write to: Brian Fleming 17 Queens Crescent Glasgow G4 9BL Scotland, U.K. ALGERNON BLACKWOOD Tales of Waa a ett aay Edvard Munch’s “The Cry" was used as the cover illustration for “Tales of Terror & Darkness”. Tt was the success of this book that caused Blackwood to resign from his dried milk business and become a full-time writer His output immediately increased. Short stories by the score began to fill news- Papers and magazines, especially ‘The Westminster Gazette’, where most of the tales that later formed “Ten Minutes Stories” (1914) first appeared. An early novel, “Jimbo”, was dusted off and offered to Macmillan who accepted and published the book in February 1909. This began a long and favourable association with the company, who published much of Black- wood’s best work. Unfortunately, Black- wood later came to feel that Macmillan were possibly not pushing the sales of his books sufficiently, though they had always acceded to his requests and even published such esoteric works as his play “Karma” (1918). He had pleaded that they publish this work to establish it as the first published play about reincarnation to appear in Britain, When Maude ffoulkes moved from Eveleigh Nash to work for Cassell, Blackwood trans- ferred his allegiances, but with no better outcome. Blackwood’s fictional output divides easily into four groups. Best known and most accessible are his short stories, best exemplified in his 1912 volume “Pan's Garden”. These stories reflect _ what Blackwood was trying to achieve in his attempts to express in words the relation- ship between Man and Nature. They are all solid reliable tales and avoid the sketches and ephemera that fill some of his other volumes. In later years when retrospective collections were assembled, Blackwood put together what he felt was the best of his work for William Heinemann in a large volume of 26 tales, “Strange Stories”. MYSTICAL The second group contains his mystical novels, into which fall his three most acc- complished works: “The Human Chord” (1908), perhaps his most readable novel, “Julius Le Vallon” (1916), to my mind his best novel, and “The Centaur” (1911) his own favourite book. “The Human Chord”” was reprinted by Tom Stacey in 1972 but the other two have long been out of print The third group covers his adult novels about children. These really began with “The Education of Uncle Paul” (1909), a book with which Blackwood became so closely associated that his friends came to know him as “Uncle Paul”. Out of this book grew “A Prisoner if Fairyland” (1913), which at the time proved popular and went through several reprintings, but today is disappointingly unreadable. Unfortunately it is one of his easiest books to find which will not inspire one to look further. Blackwood scored better with his next try, “The Extra Day” (1915), which has never been reprinted and today is difficult to find. His most successful book in this vein was “Dudley and Gilderoy” (1929), which even T.E. Lawrence, who was no fan of Blackwood, found enjoyable. The first edition from Benn is always easy to find in both of its variant bindings, and it CRIME CATALOGUES CO? containing AEE HOTORIOUS CHARACTERS who have been convicted of offences peu the law COMP RISING whee S ieee lescription errs logether with C) Crialy (Y Police & Legal Biographies FORENSIC MATISRS MOBS & MOBSTERS the whole based upon an extensive stock TO BE HADON REQUEST FROM the Proprietor CLIFFORD ELMER. SPECIALIST BOOK SELLER OUT OF PRINT NON-FICTION CRIME BALMORAL AVENUE ‘CHEADLE HULME (CHEADLE, CHESHIRE SKS SEQ “el: 06-485 7064 is the later editions which are harder to trace. The fourth group are his children’s stories which formed the bulk of his writing in the Twenties. Blackwood had a close affinity with children and these stories have a charming innocence. A number first app- eared in Basil Blackwell’s “Joy Street Annuals” and are easier to trace in this form than in their subsequent book pub- lication from Blackwell in the following years. They are certainly the hardest to find of all Blackwood’s books. DRAMATIST After “Karma”, only one more of Blackwood’s plays was published, “Through the Crack” (1925). Both had been written with the help of dramatist and adaptor Violet Pearn, who had first collaborated with Blackwood on the unenviable task of adapting “A Prisoner in Fairyland” for the theatre. The result was “The Starlight Express” — which has no relation to Ancrew Lloyd-Webber’s current success — staged at the Kingsway Theatre in the post-Christmas period of 1915/16. It was an uninspired production and is only remembered today because of the incidental music composed by Sir Edward Elgar. Blackwood liked the theatre and even toured briefly with Henry Ainley in 1923 with “Oliver Cromwell”. In the Thirties, however, Blackwood found a new medium for his expression of the dramatic by pres- enting his own stories and experiences on the radio. He also appeared in the first programme ever broadcast over British television in November 1936. Throughout the war years he became a familiar voice on the radio. As he approached his eightieth DETECTIVE FICTION, mainly first editions. CRIMINOLOGY, a large collection including Notable British and other Trials. Browsers welcome, 7 days 8 week, but please phone first or write for an appointment. Lists issued, birthday in 1949, he was probably at the height of his popularity, and in the New Year’s Honours that year he was awarded the C.B.E. During the twenty-five years from 1925 to 1950, Blackwood wrote few new books. Of special interest, however, is a limited edition of his short story “Full Circle” in the Woburn Books series put out by Elkin Mathews and Marrot. Five hundred were offered for sale along with a further thirty special presentation copies. Also very collectable is his last original story collection, “The Doll and One Other” (1946), published not in Britain but in the United States by August Derleth’s Arkham

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