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Bunts, Frank Emory. The Soul of Henry Harrington and Other Stories. Cleveland, Ohio: [Press of The Gardner Printing Co.], 1916. First edition. Octavo, pp. [1-12] 13-128 [129-132: blank]. Original maroon pictorial faux leather over limp boards, front panel stamped in gold and ruled in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel ruled in blind, vertically ribbed light-gray endpapers, fore-edge untrimmed. Illustrated by William J. Brownlow on six inserted plates. 2mm. loss at head of spine, tiny triangular chip at lower left corner of front cover showing loss of leatherette, else a bright nearly fine copy of an inherently fragile book (the thin leatherette tends to chip or pull away from the boards) in a fairly good pictorial dust jacket reproducing the design of the front cover, with several small chips to edges, especially the spine ends and top left corner of front panel (but with no loss of decorative or typographic elements). A surprisingly nice copy of a very fragile book and jacket. Scarce in jacket. #1912. $250. This collection of seven stories was printed for the author, a Cleveland doctor, for presentation to friends. In his brief preface, dated on Christmas Day, he notes that most of the stories had been written long before. Two of them qualify as fantastic horror. The title story concerns the growing obsession of Dr. Ernst with the human nervous system. In an effort to try to dissect and isolate the location of the soul, he sinks into crime, moral degradation and madness -- but he does seem to have succeeded in his quest. When he has stripped all physicality from the nervous system of a recently deceased lawyer (Henry Harrington -- a sly reference to the California magnate Henry Huntington?) the dead man's soul latches onto the body of Ernst. Conflicts ensue but Huntington's soul is stronger than Ernst's and it leads him to do things he abhors. This puts the story squarely in the sub-genres of both the mad scientist and personality transfer (or malignant possession). The business of the exposed soul automatically attaching itself to the nearest living body is not explored; nonetheless it's an interesting notion, and, in the hands of a better writer could have been better teased out for its metaphysical implications. The reader will find more metaphysical speculations delivered in a throwaway fashion in "A Japanese Hell," which puts the hero in an underground area in Japan where it seems that damned souls have been relocated because Hell has run out of room; but the damned lose their immortality when deprived of close contact with the Devil, and must then resort to cannibalism to feed themselves, as attested by the profusion of human bones in the cavern. The two plates done by the illustrator (Brownlow) for these stories nicely amplify their horror. Bleiler (1978), p. 34. Smith, American Fiction, 1901-1925 B-1193. Seller Inventory # 1912
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Bibliographic Details
Title: The Soul of Henry Harrington and Other ...
Publisher: [Press of The Gardner Printing Co.], Cleveland, Ohio
Publication Date: 1916
Binding: Hardback
Illustrator: William J. Brownlow
Condition: Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Good
Edition: First Edition.
