first edition
1902
by Shiel, M.P.
1902. London: Grant Richards, 1902. Original brown cloth stamped in black and light brown.
First Edition of this 726-page novel by Matthew Phipps Shiel (of biracial Caribbean heritage), famous for his volumes of supernatural horror and scientific romances -- such as PRINCE ZALESKI, SHAPES IN THE FIRE, THE YELLOW DANGER, THE LORD OF THE SEA, and THE PURPLE CLOUD. In 1902, Shiel turned away from the more dramatic future war and science fiction themes which had dominated his early serial novels and began a series which have been described as his middle period romantic novels. The most interesting was the first, serialised as In Love's Whirlpool in Cassell's Saturday Journal, 14 May – 3 September 1902, and published in book form as The Weird o' It (1902)... This novel was far from hackwork, and besides apparent autobiographical elements (including a minor character based on Ernest Dowson with whom Shiel is rumoured to have roomed briefly in the 1890s), contains some of his finest writing, but it was not reprinted in England, nor formally published in America [Wiki]. Quoting from Morse, In a smashing climax, some seven deaths, murders, and fatal accidents crowd the final chapter or two, as the various threads of the involved tale are all brought together. Indeed, one of the characters laughs himself to death! This copy is in near-fine condition (slightly rubbed but very little wear, foxing on the fore-edge, tiny endpaper corner chipped away); atypically for a book of this girth, the original endpapers have only minor cracking. An uncommon title. Morse pp 62-63. (Inventory #: 15644)
First Edition of this 726-page novel by Matthew Phipps Shiel (of biracial Caribbean heritage), famous for his volumes of supernatural horror and scientific romances -- such as PRINCE ZALESKI, SHAPES IN THE FIRE, THE YELLOW DANGER, THE LORD OF THE SEA, and THE PURPLE CLOUD. In 1902, Shiel turned away from the more dramatic future war and science fiction themes which had dominated his early serial novels and began a series which have been described as his middle period romantic novels. The most interesting was the first, serialised as In Love's Whirlpool in Cassell's Saturday Journal, 14 May – 3 September 1902, and published in book form as The Weird o' It (1902)... This novel was far from hackwork, and besides apparent autobiographical elements (including a minor character based on Ernest Dowson with whom Shiel is rumoured to have roomed briefly in the 1890s), contains some of his finest writing, but it was not reprinted in England, nor formally published in America [Wiki]. Quoting from Morse, In a smashing climax, some seven deaths, murders, and fatal accidents crowd the final chapter or two, as the various threads of the involved tale are all brought together. Indeed, one of the characters laughs himself to death! This copy is in near-fine condition (slightly rubbed but very little wear, foxing on the fore-edge, tiny endpaper corner chipped away); atypically for a book of this girth, the original endpapers have only minor cracking. An uncommon title. Morse pp 62-63. (Inventory #: 15644)
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