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Post by humgoo on Oct 19, 2022 6:12:53 GMT
Sundail's books used to be very reasonably priced. Don't know what's happened to them. Will give it a miss until there's a cheaper paperback edition. I think I have come across two of her stories, can't remember much though: - "The Unquiet Grave" in R. C. Bull [ed.], Perturbed Spirits- "Miss De Mannering of Asham" in Richard Dalby [ed.], The Virago Book of Ghost StoriesBleiler's verdict: "Good stories on the whole, well developed, often with original ideas and treatment." G. R. Collia has a review of the whole book on her The Haunted Library blog. Why there was so much excitement around this tome was a mystery to me, until I learned that our esteemed Provost mentioned it somewhere or other as a book he had enjoyed. The book appeared with a recommendation from MRJ on its cover in 1935, one year before his death. So MRJ did blurbs for others? Calling Rosemary Pardoe for info. (And the send-a-review-copy-to-Stephen King-to-get-a-quote thing already began in the 1930s???) |
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Post by helrunar on Oct 19, 2022 17:27:04 GMT
Quite strange--I checked Sundial's page for the book and I can't tell if it was ever actually published last January. It's impossible to tell. The edition was limited to 150 copies--presumably all already spoken for.
Just very weird that the work of such an obscure author continues to be unavailable. I presume a descendant who is under the delusion that there's big bucks in the offing for this book is responsible for the roadblock. Of course, given that a copy is on sale on Abebooks for $1500 could well make somebody think that this author's work is in high demand.
H.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Oct 19, 2022 17:28:57 GMT
Quite strange--I checked Sundial's page for the book and I can't tell if it was ever actually published last January. It's impossible to tell. The edition was limited to 150 copies--presumably all already spoken for. Just very weird that the work of such an obscure author continues to be unavailable. I presume a descendant who is under the delusion that there's big bucks in the offing for this book is responsible for the roadblock. Of course, given that a copy is on sale on Abebooks for $1500 could well make somebody think that this author's work is in high demand. H. The more you talk about it, the higher the price goes. |
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Post by mrhappy on Oct 20, 2022 6:37:27 GMT
Quite strange--I checked Sundial's page for the book and I can't tell if it was ever actually published last January. Not yet. Sigh. Mr Happy |
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Post by Shrink Proof on Oct 20, 2022 9:03:13 GMT
Quite strange--I checked Sundial's page for the book and I can't tell if it was ever actually published last January. It's impossible to tell. The edition was limited to 150 copies--presumably all already spoken for. H. Sundial's website is updated regularly. It's done every decade, whether it needs it or not. And don't bother emailing. They never reply... |
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Post by helrunar on Oct 20, 2022 13:11:02 GMT
The Sundial outfit sounds a lot like this esoteric publisher over here, Three Hands Press. One of their titles, Green Mysteries (the work of one of the firm's owners) was announced with great fanfare and pre-order for a 2016 publication date (if memory serves). It has still yet to be published. Rather hilariously, the publication date keeps getting pushed back on a bloated, omnipresent online retail site every four to six months--currently standing at January 2023. The firm's own web page is updated in a rather erratic manner.
VERY unfortunately, a number of people sent in the full payment for the book when they pre-ordered. A couple of years ago, the publisher made a "mea maxima culpa" statement that they'd return the money to those who had lost hope in the book ever appearing. But people I know who asked for a refund never got one.
So it goes.
H.
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Post by humgoo on Oct 24, 2022 3:36:08 GMT
[...] good in an old-fashioned and melodramatic way, is F. M. Mayor's Miss de Mannering of Asham, which is by turns eerie, tragic, and moving. I've just read/re-read it, which is very well done indeed. While the sad part is depressing enough (no wonder it's also been included in The Oxford Book Of Gothic Tales), the humorous part reminded me of MRJ's "The Residence at Whitminster". From Mr. Dalby's "Notes on the Authors": "Her important theme of the woman alone occurs in all three of her novels, The Third Miss Symons (1913), The Rector's Daughter (1924), and The Squire's Daughter (1929)." Have a mind to seek them out even though I've never read an Austen! I don't understand the supposed copyright problems, as a novella of her has just been reprinted recently (see this post from the Desperate Reader blog). |
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Post by durdles on Jan 11, 2023 22:57:24 GMT
I sent off for The Room Opposite. PayPal took the money and then nothing happened. A month later I phoned Sundial left messages and emailed and it is a dead end. I wondered if all was well with them. It looks like I will have to enter into some argy-bargy to retrieve my thirty quid.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Jan 11, 2023 23:06:03 GMT
durdles PayPal has buyer protection, if it is under 180 days. You should get your money back fairly easily.
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Post by helrunar on Jan 11, 2023 23:50:41 GMT
I hope you are able to get your money back. Who knows when, if ever, the book will actually be printed.
Best wishes,
Hel.
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Post by sandyrobertson6 on Mar 10, 2023 5:38:37 GMT
There seems to be a paperback now at Ā£17.50. I was about to buy the hardcover but now that I've read this thread I wonder if there are still copies left out of 150 or if it is yet to be issued? Bit sad if true as I found Sundial reliable in the past, though slow to reply. The worst small publisher for this sort of thing is Hellfire Club press, who do lovely books but often take payment and don't send the books. They did a beautiful looking edition of Montague Summers's rare Confessions of Madeleine Bavent in three different bindings at high prices, but I eventually had to get my bank card to refund me. All 3 established occult bookshops in London refuse to deal with the company anymore.
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Post by helrunar on Mar 10, 2023 14:09:07 GMT
Hi Sandy,
So far as one can determine, the reprint has still yet to be published by the Sundial Press. On their website it's listed as forthcoming in 2022. I don't think the forth ever came, LOL.
Where did you see the paperback listed? I just did a brief search on the interwebs and all that I see, apart from Sundial's old page for their reprint, is a listing on the Richard Dalby site for the 1935 edition. Priced at 800 pounds. Yikes. That's a lot of martinis in Torremolinos (joke).
Anyone ever read this weighty tome? S. Oldfield, Spinsters of this parish: the life and times of F.M. Mayor and Mary Sheepshanks (1984).
cheers, Hel.
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Post by šrincess šµuvstarr on Mar 10, 2023 15:24:48 GMT
durdles PayPal has buyer protection, if it is under 180 days. You should get your money back fairly easily. I should say you have PayPal Purchase Protection as long as you don't use Friends and Family. If a seller you don't know asks you to use Friends and Family as it is "quicker" just don't. It is probably a scam. |
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Post by helrunar on May 8, 2023 22:20:53 GMT
Posted on the M. R. James Appreciation society group today by Michael Price: Received word that this has FINALLY been reprinted (but not by Sundial Press) and is available to order from multiple outlets. The Room Opposite: And Other Tales of Mystery and Imagination F. M. Mayor In 1935, Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd. published The Room Opposite: And Other Tales of Mystery and Imagination by F. M. Mayor, a collection of sixteen tales that had been left unpublished at the author's death. It was issued with a recommendation from no less eminent a critic of ghost stories than M. R. James, who wrote, 'The stories in this volume which introduce the supernatural commend themselves to me very strongly.' Secondhand copies of the first edition are incredibly hard to come by, and the book has never been republished... until now. This new edition contains all sixteen stories, along with a long article which originally appeared in The Queen newspaper in 1905 entitled 'Life in a Touring Company'. This edition also includes an introduction by Gina R. Collia: 'F. M. Mayor: Author, Actress & Champion of the Superfluous Woman.' www.wordferret.co.uk/the-rooom-oppositeThere's some glitch in the Amazon listing currently according to the publisher, but they say it will be resolved soon. Hel. |
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Post by dem bones on Jun 3, 2023 18:21:00 GMT
F. M. Mayor - The Room Opposite: And Other Tales of Mystery and Imagination: Edited with an introduction by Gina R Collia (Nezu Press, April 2023) In 1935, Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd. published The Room Opposite: And Other Tales of Mystery and Imagination by F. M. Mayor, a collection of sixteen tales that had been left unpublished at the author's death. It was issued with a recommendation from no less eminent a critic of ghost stories than M. R. James, who wrote, 'The stories in this volume which introduce the supernatural commend themselves to me very strongly.' Secondhand copies of the first edition are incredibly hard to come by, and the book has never been republished... until now. This new edition contains all sixteen stories, along with a long article which originally appeared in The Queen newspaper in 1905 entitled 'Life in a Touring Company'. This edition also includes an introduction by Gina R. Collia: 'F. M. Mayor: Author, Actress & Champion of the Superfluous Woman'.Am*z*nAm*z*n.uk
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