All Souls' Night. (Tauchnitz Edition. Collection of British and American Authors Volume 5118)

  • Paperback
  • Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1933
By Walpole, Hugh
Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1933. Paperback. Very Good. Paperback. Sir Hugh Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist. He was a prodigious writer and novelist who was very popular in the United Kingdom and North America in the 1920-30s, but has largely been neglected since. He was a companion of and was influenced by many contemporary British/American authors, including H.G. Wells, Max Beerbohm, and Henry James. Walpole's output was quite varied. His range included the macabre, children's stories and historical fiction. All Souls' Night, initially published in 1933 by McMillan and Company, is considered a ghost story.

VERY SCARCE. This copy, published in the same year by Berhard Tauchnitz, was intended to circumvent British and American copyright laws. The Bernhard Tauchnitz firm was established in Leipzig in 1837 and initiated The Tauchnitz “Collection of British Authors” in 1842. The name was changed to the “Collection of British and American Authors” in 1914. To avoid copyright, Tauchnitz approached English literary agents and offered to publish their clients’ books for circulation limited to continental Europe, not to compete with the initial publisher in the home market. This is documented by the warning at the bottom of the front wrapper that states “Not to be introduced into the British Empire and U.S.A." This is Volume 5118 in the long-running Tauchnitz series. Because this edition was not to be introduced into the United States, it is very scarce in the US. It also appears to be very scarce internationally. This may be due to the fragile nature of the paperback volumes. A very interesting historical artifact in the publishing and copyrighting fields. 16mo. (6.5 x 4.5 inches.) In original brown paper wrappers. Some creasing and small split to spine, also browning but text still bright. Interior very clean, pages lightly yellowed. 274 pages. Literature. LIT/2203.

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