Blake, Cecilia M. Among the Water Lilies. [London]: Simpkin, Marshall, Kent & Co., Ltd., n.d. [1895]. First edition. Octavo, pp. [i-ii] iii-iv [1] 2-412. Original decorative navy blue cloth, front and spine panels stamped in gold, top edge gold. Some shelf lean, a bit of bubbling to cloth, still generally a very good copy. #1414. $75. A criminous melodrama set in 1851, a period whose optimistic national mood, symbolized by the Crystal Palace, is soon undermined by the war in Crimea and by the seduction and abandonment of the novel's tragic heroine, Juliet -- by a dashing Italian. She is driven to abandon her own baby, leaving it on the doorstep of a kindly working couple. Two premonitory dreams play a more than perfunctory role in the story and give the novel its relevance to the fantastic genre. Juliet's symbolically prefigures her own violent death, and that of her rejected suitor, Lance, fighting in Crimea, imagines the same scene from a different angle.) The novel is enormously padded and meandering; the alternation of aristocratic and working class scenes feels calculated; the plot elements are hackneyed. Its basic themes remind the reader that marrying a foreigner -- a beautiful Italian woman in this case -- invariably leads to doomed offspring (Juliet); and that the only honorable way to gain riches is to inherit them or marry them). These messages, so common in Victorian fiction, suggest a certain defensiveness in the culture, a fear of adventure, a lack of self-confidence, a circling of the wagons, a state of exhaustion that ultimately rubs off on the reader. Seller Inventory # 1414

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Bibliographic Details

Title: Among the Water Lilies

Publisher: Simpkin, Marshall, Kent & Co.

Publication Date: 1895

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Edition: 1st Edition

Store Description

When I began my bookselling business in 1996 I called it "Eldritch Books" because that adjective at least partly covered the type of material I offered (and because its similarity to my own surname seemed so -- eldritch). "Ghost stories" would be another handy, if somewhat reductive, term. Most of it is fiction from the 19th and early 20th century with a strong emphasis on the fantastic. Since the most familiar and relevant genre terms in use today -- "science fiction," "fantasy," "supernatural," "horror" -- were not so much in use when these books were first published, pegging them that way can be anachronistic. But that should give you the general idea. I don't have much in the way of American pulp (either in magazine or specialty press book form) but otherwise my interests range widely from high-brow to middle-brow to low-brow to amateur/eccentric. You're more likely to find rare and obscure works here than high spots. (Or at least they're obscure now, whatever their status was when first published.) In 2001 I went to work for L. W. Currey as cataloguer and general assistant. Since 2014 I've been back working on my own. I have exhibited at convention fairs (such as WFC and Readercon) in the past. I began collecting and studying antiquarian fantasy around 1980. Some of my essays have appeared in genre publications such as NYRSF, Wormwood and F&SF. I tend to carefully research my inventory and write extensive notes. (If another dealer wishes to make use of any of these notes, I'd appreciate the courtesy of putting such excerpts in quotes and giving proper attribution to me. That's what I do when I quote from any of my reference works.) I will be gradually listing my inventory on ABE over the coming years. I hope you find something of interest.

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Robert Eldridge, Bookseller
NY, U.S.A.

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Robert Eldridge
P. O. Box 293
Elizabethtown NY 12932
USA.
Tel: 518-873-9966.
Email: rfx51@charter.net.

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I ship only by U.S. Postal Service. All shipments are packed carefully and mailed with insurance and (for domestic shipments) tracking information. Except where specified for extra large items, rates are: Domestic (within USA) Media Mail: $5. Domestic Priority: $10. International First Class (must be under 4 lbs.): $25. International Global Priority (...

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