The Mistaken Fury, and Other Lapses

Oxford: B.H. Blackwell. Good+. 1914. First Edition. Hardcover. (quarter-bound white cloth, with illlustrated paper over boards; no dust jacket) [a good sound copy, with some unfortunate staining at the lower corners of both the front and rear boards, with some bleed-through onto the endpapers but no impact on the text of the book; the spine cloth is slightly age-toned, with a tiny stain at the left edge of the front cover]. A baker's dozen of short tales, many of a somewhat mystical or spiritual nature (and apparently inspired by Greek mythology), with titles such as "The Lock-keeper and the Water Nymph," "The Tower Gargoyle," and "The Inquisitive Satyr." (The title story is a borderline horror tale, about a Dean who is haunted by an ancient spirit -- apparently a manifestation of his own conscience -- who says she's come to punish him for a death he's supposedly caused, the only problem being that she's got the wrong guy, of which he eventually convinces her.) This was the first published book by this British poet and artist (1882-1958), who was educated at the Abingdon School in Oxfordshire and later at Oxford. He served in the education branch of the Indian Civil Service from 1906 until his resignation in 1919 and his return to England the following year; while in India, he served as Principal of the Government Arts College in Rajahmundry, established the Andhra School of Indian Arts, and was an influential mentor to a number of important Telugu artists and poets, while (according to his obituary in The Abingdonian) winning "the affection of staff and pupils alike by his insight and understanding of Indian life and culture." A brief notice upon the publication of this book (again, from The Abingdonian) called it "a book of which the School may well be proud, [showing] a rare delicacy of fancy, a scholarship and style which make it a book to possess and especially to be possessed by Abingdonians." (Old school ties run deep, y'know.) The somewhat Art Nouveau-ish cover design is signed "E Lunn," but I've been unable to run down any information on an artist by that name. .