Murray (Margaret Alice) The Witch-Cult in Western Europe
£350
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1921.
First edition. 8vo. Original green cloth. Dust-jacket.
The first edition of an important anthropological work on the cult of Wicca, which despite in large part being discredited by many (inevitably male) historians is now considered by some anthropologists as having some potentially considerable intuitive and historical merit.
Out of stock
Minor mottling to cloth; jacket with splits and browning around spine, splits to fore-edges.
Related products
Weird & Supernatural
London, Herbert Jenkins, 1928
First edition. 8vo. Original boards. Dust-jacket, likely a second issue as it is priced 3'6 on spine.
A tale about a fifteen year old child - Hazel Wood - who has the gift of second sight - of being able to see things taking place far away from her.
Uncommon in jacket.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Heinemann, 1936.
First edition. 8vo. Original green boards. Dust-jacket.
A good first edition of Dunsany's classic humorous novel about an alcohol-loving clergyman who thinks he is the reincarnation of a dog...the jacket artwork says it all.
Weird & Supernatural
and other Naval Stories. As originally Told to the Marines by one of themselves.
Portsmouth, Charpentier, 1896.
True first edition. 8vo. Original purple cloth stamped in gilt.
A rare collection of nautical tales, many of a weird and supernatural bent. The collection is referenced in Bleiler's Guide to Supernatural Fiction, the main entry given to the 1899 Simpkin, Marshall edition, but noting 'There is an earlier edition of this book (Charpentier; Portsmouth, England 1896), which has not been seen.'
William Price Drury (1861-1949) was himself in the Royal Marines, as was the previous owner of this copy, General Sir Lewis Stratford Tollemache Halliday.
Weird & Supernatural
London, Stanley Paul, 1909.
First edition. 8vo. Original (variant) blue cloth.
A key work in Hope Hodgson's canon, here in a seemingly unknown variant binding (the normal is red cloth, with green also being recorded). The tale recounts a ship crew's strange & terrifying experience as their reality comes into contact with an alternative, darker mirror world. Bleiler was a huge fan of Hope Hodgson, calling his novels "visionary accounts that have no real parallels in English literature". Of this particular title he noted:
"One of the great sea novels. highly original in detail and well done. Although it is overshadowed as visionary horror by the more spectacular The House on the Borderland and The Night Land, as a work of art, it is finer." (The Guide to Supernatural Fiction).
A revised version of the ending was anthologised, under the title "The Silent Ship".
Weird & Supernatural
London, Jarrolds, 1927.An early edition of Metcalfe's first published book, a collection of macabre tales, including the excellent 'Paper WIndmills'.