Item No: #362673 The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli. Christopher Blayre, Edward Heron-Allen.
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli
The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli

Weird Fiction, Scarce in Jacket

The Purple Sapphire and Other Posthumous Papers Selected from the Unofficial Records of the University of Cosmopoli

Publication: London: Philip Allen & Co., 1921. First Edition.

Notes: A collection of short weird stories, long hard to find (Bleiler, when preparing his Guide to Supernatural Fiction, couldn't get his hands on a copy; see note at end of no. 204). Their continuing allure is evidenced by a reissue in 2020, which Michael Dirda reviewed in the Washington Post, describing Heron-Allen as "an appealing writer of weird fiction."

The conceit of the book is that it was assembled in the then-future (the author's introduction is dated 1952) from mysterious accounts written by academics and deposited in a library and never before brought to light for the public. The table of contents includes "The Cheetah-Girl", a story that touches on beastiality, abortion, and sexual ecstasy (according to Dirda). When one turns to that page, the hopeful reader instead finds a notice, "The Publishers regret that they are unable to print this M.S." Blayre would later publish the Cheetah-Girl in a privately printed edition.

Eight stories (not including the suppressed one). 211 pages.

Edition + Condition: First edition (first printing with "First published in April 1921." on the copyright page). This seems to be a remainder binding, with a later dust jacket. The covers are purple cloth with gilt stamping on the spine (the original binding was blue-gray boards with a printed label on the spine). The dust jacket, with ads for Pamela Wynne's "Ashes of Desire" (1925), has darkened at the spine, is missing chips along the top edge, and has an old tape repair at top of the front pane. . The jacket is priced at 2/-. Scarce in any jacket.

The book was issued at 7/6, according to The Saturday Review (July 30, 1921). In the October 7, 1922, issue of The Publishers' Circular and Booksellers' Record (p. 310), the publisher advertised a cheap edition at 5/-. This one seems to be from a few years later, when it was even cheaper.

Item No: #362673

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