THE STRANGE PAPERS OF DR BLAYRE

[London]: Philip Allan, 1932. Enlarged edition. Lending library label affixed to front paste down ("Ideal" book club), abrasion to rear paste down, cloth soiled and stained, spine age darkened, a sound good copy with solid contents. An as new facsimile dust jacket is included. (28189). Octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-271 [272: blank], original blue-green cloth, spine panel stamped in black. New edition of THE PURPLE SAPPHIRE (1921) with four additional stories. "Collection of stories supposedly 'selected from the unofficial records of the University of Cosmopoli' by its 'sometime registrar' -- the mock introduction is dated 1952 ... The stories (not all supernatural) are satirical, mocking the gentility and earnestness of the academic school of supernatural writing developed by M. R. James ... The ironic wit is not to everyone's taste, but these are among the best satirical weird tales." - Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-28. Ashley, Who's Who in Horror and Fantasy Fiction, pp. 92-3. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 204. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 226. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 080. Clarke, Tale of the Future (1978), p. 60. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 36. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 201. Bleiler (1978), p. 26. Reginald 07140.