BACK SLUM IDYLLS

(ENGLISH CRIME FICTION) PARR, Olive Katherine. BACK SLUM IDYLLS. London: R. & T. Washbourne, Ltd., 1907. 8vo. Publishers original blue pictor cloth. Frontispiece, 131, (1) pages. Only edition. Scarce early 20th century English crime fiction. OCLC records only eight cop in U.S. libraries, and only seven other examples. The Dartmoor authoress (1874-1955) whose pen-name was "Beatrice Chase," was always known as "The Lad of the Moor." She was a direct descendant of William Parr, brother to Catherine, the sixth wife of Henry VIII. She died penniless. A collection o nine short stories. According to her preface "To my reader" "These stories a fact, not fiction. They are not the invention of a vivid imagination, but th sober, uncoloured portrayal of criminal lives whose threads have become interwoven amongst my mother's during her labours in prison, workhouse, and slum..." Actually, fiction in the guise of non-fiction. Original cloth cove illustrates a London Bobby surprising a man. Very good.