Algernon Blackwood Book

I went trawling Saturday (22 June) and came up with this neat title: Algernon Blackwood's Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural for $3.40. It was regularly $4.00, but I had a 15% off coupon! The cover was not in the greatest shape, but still intact. The image above courtesy of "Carcosa". The date lists it as the (third impression) 1964 edition - the first edition would have been 1962. It was printed in Czechoslovakia, by Spring Books, Westbrook House, Fulham Broadway, London.

Copies seem to be somewhat rare these days. Jimster sent word that he has a sister book of the same edition.

Antiquarian Thread member Carcosa did some research and discovered that "Spring Books of London was a general hardcover publisher that did everything from art books to gardening volumes. They DID do the two really great Blackwood volumes (a 3rd book, TALES OF TERROR AND DARKNESS appears to be a re-title of UNCANNY), and these have been the basis for a few of the reprints that have been done in recent years. They both have ... cool lurid covers typical of the era ... TALES OF THE UNCANNY AND SUPERNATURAL ... was originally published by Peter Nevill Limited of London in 1949 and from what I can see it's EXTREMELY rare and worth some pretty serious coin."

As to Spring Books' horror offerings, I found one listed in the ebayeum that would relate: THE WORKS OF OSCAR WILDE PUBLISHED BY SPRING BOOKS* WESTBOOK HOUSE * FULHAM BROADWAY *LONDON; PRINTED IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA BY SVOBODA, PRAGUE. It had 957 pages and included plays, stories, tales, poems, essays and THE BALLAD OF READING.