Stapledon R G Editor (2 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Large octavo, pp 240, the upper corners very slightly bruised, otherwise very clean internally, paperback, the uooer cover just slightly marked, a good copy . SCARCE.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Figures (illustrator). 1st Edition. 916 Pp. Black Cloth, Gilt; Illustrated Endpapers. First Printing. Corners Slightly Bumped, No Fraying, Gilt Bright, No Marks, Faint Splash Marks Right On Fore Edges Of Covers But No Traces On Endpapers Or Pages. Per Wikipedia, Naomi Mary Margaret Mitchison, Baroness Mitchison Cbe (Née Haldane; 1897 - 1999) Was A Scottish Novelist And Poet. Often Called A Doyenne Of Scottish Literature, She Wrote More Than 90 Books Of Historical And Science Fiction, Travel Writing And Autobiography. Her Husband Dick Mitchison's Life Peerage In 1964 Entitled Her To Call Herself Lady Mitchison, But She Never Did. Her 1931 Work, The Corn King And The Spring Queen, Is Seen By Some As The Prime 20Th-Century Historical Novel. The Haldanes Were Known For Their Self-Styled Domestic Experiments. She And Her Brother John Started Investigating Mendelian Genetics In 1908. They Initially Used Guinea Pigs As Experimental Models, But Changed To Mice As They Were More Convenient To Handle. Their Findings Were Published As "Reduplication In Mice" In 1915. This Was In Fact The First Demonstration Of Genetic Linkage In Mammals. Mitchison Was A Prolific Writer Of More Than 90 Books In Her Lifetime, Across A Multitude Of Styles And Genres. These Include Historical Novels Such As Her First Novel The Conquered (1923), Set In Gaul In The 1St Century Bce, During The Gallic Wars Of Julius Caesar, And Her Second Novel Cloud Cuckoo Land (1925) Set In 5Th-Century Bce Ancient Greece During The Peloponnesian War.In 1932, Mitchison Was Commissioned By Victor Gollancz To Edit A Guide To The Modern World For Children. Mitchison's Book, An Outline For Boys And Girls And Their Parents, Included Several Distinguished Contributors, Including W. H. Auden, Richard Hughes, Gerald Heard, And Olaf Stapledon. On Publication, An Outline Was Praised By The Times Literary Supplement, The New Statesman And The London Mercury. However, Several Clergymen, Including The Archbishop Of York, Were Angered By The Book's Lack Of Emphasis On Christianity, While Other Right-Wing Authors Objected To A Perceived Sympathy With The Soviet Union. The Conservative Writer Arnold Lunn Wrote A Lengthy Attack On The Book In The English Review,[10] Which Contributed To Its Commercial Failure. Undoubtedly Her Most Controversial Work, We Have Been Warned, Was Published In 1935, Based On A Journey To The Soviet Union. In It She Explored Sexual Behaviour, Including Rape And Abortion. The Book Was Rejected By Various Publishers And Ultimately Censored. She Approached First Her Friend Victor Gollancz, Who Flatly Turned Her Down, Observing That "Publication Of The Book Would Cause A Real Outcry." The Book Was Extensively Rewritten To Make It More Acceptable To Publishers, And Was Still Subject To Censorship. On Publication It Was Universally Despised For Its Depiction Of Rape, Free Love And Abortion That "Alienated Readers On The Left And Horrified Those On The Political Right." In 2005, Files From The National Archives Revealed That The British Government Had Considered Prosecuting The Publishers Of We Have Been Warned, But Ultimately Decided Not To Do So. Mitchison, Like Her Brother, Was A Committed Socialist In The 1930S. She Visited The Soviet Union In 1932 As Part Of A Fabian Society Group And Expressed Some Misgivings About The Direction Of Soviet Society. An Active Anti-Fascist, Mitchison Travelled To Austria, Where She Undertook The Risky Task Of Smuggling Documents And Left-Wing Refugees Out Of The Country. She Stood Unsuccessfully As A Labour Party Candidate For The Scottish Universities In 1935, At A Time When Universities Were Still Allowed To Elect Mps. Eventually, As Her Political Candidacy And Her Pro-Left Writings Had Failed, She Gradually Became Disenchanted With The Left. At That Time, She Became Politically Attracted To Scottish Nationalism. She Was Also A Good Friend Of The Writer J. R. R. Tolkien, And One Of The Proof Readers Of The Lord Of The Rings.