Haining - The Gentlewomen of Evil

[andydecker]

After reading so much about Peter Haining and his influence lately I read up on him how successful he was in Germany. Horror was mostly published and sold in paperback imprints, but literary horror sometimes found his way to the bookshops and the hardcover market. Here is an early example.

Goverts, 1969

As the publisher didn´t bother with the original titles I will list the writers and a re-tranlation of the story´s title, which may or not resemble the original.
Edited; thanks to Steve.



Introduction – Peter Haining
Mary Shelley – Transformation
Mrs. Oliphant – The Open Door
Miss Catherine Crowe – The Italian's Story
Mrs. Henry Wood – The Ghost
Mrs. Gaskell – The Old Nurse's Story
Amelia Edwards – The Phantom Coach
Mary Ann Evans – The Lifted Veil
Miss Braddon – Evelyn's Visitant
Mrs. Riddell – Sandy The Tinker
Anonymous – The Tale Of A Gas-light Ghost
Mrs. L. T. Meade – Eyes Of Terror
Mrs. Molesworth – At The Dip Of The Road
Miss Gertrude Bacon – The Gorgon's Head



I was quite surprised how much work was put into this. The pictures by artist Max Ernst were selected from other books for this project, and they are very good. Prices for hardcover at the time were expensive this cost 20 D-Mark back then. (Your weekly sf-pulp cost 0,80 D-Mark at the time.) The publisher doesn´t exist in this form any longer, today he is part of a group.

It was reprinted twice as a paperback in 1971 and 1986.

Haining sold quite a lot to Germany, there are over 35 entrys in his bibliography including his books on Bardot, Penthouse and Kipling. Some sold in 40 to 50 K range. As there is no collector´s market for them they are either unobtainable or cheap to order.

Now this is a quite interesting collection. Of course the stories are tame, even mellow to todays standard, but it is fascinating to read them. Sometimes they are as alien as the dark side of the moon with their hysteria, brain-fevers and guys who made their fortune in India. (I always thought this was a staple for Conan Doyle, but seems it was everywhere.)

[Steve]

Dec 20, 2009 13:32:59 GMT andydecker said:

As the publisher didn´t bother with the original titles I will list the writers and a re-tranlation of the story´s title, which may or not resemble the original.

Here's the original titles for reference, Andy.

Introduction – Peter Haining
Mary Shelley – Transformation
Mrs. Oliphant – The Open Door
Miss Catherine Crowe – The Italian's Story
Mrs. Henry Wood – The Ghost
Mrs. Gaskell – The Old Nurse's Story
Amelia Edwards – The Phantom Coach
Mary Ann Evans – The Lifted Veil
Miss Braddon – Evelyn's Visitant
Mrs. Riddell – Sandy The Tinker
Anonymous – The Tale Of A Gas-light Ghost
Mrs. L. T. Meade – Eyes Of Terror
Mrs. Molesworth – At The Dip Of The Road
Miss Gertrude Bacon – The Gorgon's Head

Another very interesting post on an aspect we'd never know about otherwise. Out of interest, do you know what Haining's best-selling anthology was in your neck of the woods?

[dem]

Thanks andy. our much-missed friend Bob Rothwell posted covers and details of several Haining German editions (and Chetwynd-Hayes, come to that) on the Dennis Wheatley board, HERE. The UK edition was:

Peter Haining (ed) - The Gentlewomen Of Evil: An Anthology Of Rare Supernatural Stories From The Pens Of Victorian Ladies (Robert Hale, 1967)

contents as posted by steve, above

I think the Robert Hale edition was Haining's first UK hardcover anthology. A strong selection of mostly over-familiar stories, but then he's obviously been restricted to stories in the public domain. The slightly more adventurous A Circle Of Witches four years later was possibly intended as a companion volume. Both contain photo inserts.

Peter Haining (ed.) - A Circle Of Witches: An Anthology Of Victorian Witchcraft Stories (Robert Hale, 1971)

Introduction - Peter Haining

Part One: Fact

Mrs. E. Lynn Linton - Witchcraft In England
Mrs. E. Lynn Linton - The Witches Of Scotland
Lady Wilde - Irish Witch Tales
Miss Mary Lewis - Witchcraft And Wizardry In Wales

Part Two: Fiction

Mrs. H. L. - The Magic Ring
Lady Duff-Gordon - The Amber Witch
Anon - The Witch Spectre
Catherine Crowe - Possessed By Demons
Amelia Edwards - My Brother’s Ghost Story
Anna Bonus Kingsford - The Enchanted Woman
The Hon. Mrs. Greene - Bound By A Spell
Mrs. Ethel Marriott-Watson - The Witch Of The Marsh
Pauline Mackie - Ye Lyttle Salem Maide
Mrs. Baillie Reynolds - A Witch Burning
Mrs. H. D. Everett - A Water Witch
Beatrice Heron-Maxwell - The Devil Stone
Jessie Adelaide Middleton - Black Magic
Mrs. Hugh Fraser - The Satanist

I've never seen paperback editions of either?

[andydecker]

Here are a few of the interior illustrations of the hardcover, which are very nice. Maybe not always very "Victorian", but who cares.

Illustration for Miss Bradon; Evelyn's Visitant

Illustration for Mary Ann Evans; The Lifted Veil

Illustration for Mary Shelley; Transformation

Ullustration for Mrs. Henry Wood; The Ghost

The artwork is taken from Max Ernst, "Une semaine de bontè", published in Paris in 1934. Each story is accompanied by an illustration. Needless to say that such productions have become extinct today.