Henry Mercer’s Ghost Stories, 1928, in Dust Jacket
November Night Tales. A Book of Short Stories.
New York: Walter Neale, 1928.
First edition. 244 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Henry Mercer’s Ghost Stories, 1928, in Dust Jacket. Pale blue cloth titled in black, original printed dust jacket. Spine very sightly faded, very good plus (some expert touch up on board edges at foot) in near fine dust jacket (a few short closed edge tears, some text loss to top of rear panel from removal of an old sticker) Item #329340
A sharp copy in dust jacket of this rare collection of ghost stories by the Pennsylvania archaeologist, ceramicist, and polymath Henry C. Mercer (1856-1930), who was educated at Harvard (Class of 1879) and as a ceramicist played a key part in the American Arts and Crafts movement. He established the Mercer Museum to house his collection of American tools and objects of material culture. His poured concrete mansion Fonthill, named in honor of Beckford’s home, is as fabulous a creation as any of the six deft stories in this volume, which range from rural Pennsylvania folklore to a forgotten treasure in the Italian Alps and “The Wolf Book”, a tale of an ill-starred book and werewolves in the Balkans. One other ghost story was published posthumously. Mercer’s Tales are not in the M.R. James tradition, but share some concerns and techniques. An unsual work, reprinted in 2015 by Swan River Press (with an introduction by Peter Bell) and Valancourt (with an introduction by Cory M. Amsler).
Price: $1,750.00 Free International Delivery
