Juxtabook

Ghosts, Vampires, Witches and All things Gothic for Halloween

A few of our spookier things in stock!

 

 

The Hour of One: Six Gothic Melodramas - in a rather fetching red velvet covered binding. Contains facsimile texts of the scripts of: The Vampire, The Devil's Elixir, The Flying Dutchman, The Castle Spectre, A Tale of Mystery, and Frankenstein. With a substantial introduction by Stephen Wischhusen on London theatres in the early nineteenth century and the production of gothic melodramas. The original contributors are Matthew Lewis, Thomas Holcroft, J. R. Planche, Henry M. Milner, Edward Fitzball.

 

 

This is a charming 1823 edition of the Gothic classic The Old English Baron: A Gothic Story by Clara Reeve.  Measuring just 12mo, 130 by 85mm (5 by 3¼ inches) in a full leather binding in a maroon morocco. Raise bands to spine with gilt titles and gilt decorative device in remaining compartments. Gilt decorations to front and to back boards. All page edges gilt. Period yellow endpapers. Engraving to title page.

 

 

Modern vampires need representing of course, and this is Twilight: Red Edged Special Edition the volume where we first meet Bella and Edward Cullen! From 2007 this is an early special edition. We have a copy of Eclipse from the same red edge series.

 

 

 

Moving onto witches, we can see Pendle Hill as soon as we travel out of Skipton towards the Lakes so here is a very appropriate title on the Lancashire Witches, unusally half-bound in leather by Morell, London. Mist Over Pendle by Robert Neill is the 1951 American edition (3rd impression) of this classic historical novel about the Lancashire Witches has been re-bound into a half calf binding with raised bands to spine, green leather labels and gilt titles. A very unusual copy.

 

 

Another modern publishing phenonemon is of course Harry Potter. Harry Potter, A History of Magic: The Book of the Exhibition was produced to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, this is the official book of the once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Bloomsbury, J. K. Rowling and the British Library combining weird and wonder items from the British Library collection as well as previously unseen items from J. K. Rowling’s personal collection. Includes essays by Steve Backshall, the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger Highfield, Steve Kloves, Lucy Mangan, Anna Pavord and Tim Peake, etc. Illustrations by Olivia Lomenech Gill and Jim Kay who have both illustrated Harry Potter books previously. 

 

 

 

Up nexts are ghosts and things that go bump in the night. London... The Sinister Side covers all these and more in this city guide with a difference.

 

 

 

Mr Corbett's Ghost & Other Stories by Leon Garfield is in a classic Puffin edition. Many of Leon Garfield's books whether explcitly ghostly or not have the swirling-mists-under-the-gaslamps atmosphere about them. You can browse the master of children's Victorian set historical fiction here.

 

 

 

And finally in the fiction highlights the mistress of the Gothic herself, Mrs Radcliffe. This is all the gothic you'll need in a Folio Society box set: The Complete Works of Mrs Ann Radcliffe: The Mysteries of Udolpho, The Italian, A Sicilian Romance, The Romance of the Forest, Gaston De Blondeville, The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne .

 

And to finish, some non-fiction:

 

Decadent Daughters and Monstrous Mothers: Angela Carter and European Gothic by Rebecca Munford,

 

In Search of Mary Shelley: The Girl Who Wrote Frankenstein by Fiona Sampson and

 

A Dictionary of Superstitions edited by Iona Opie and Moira Tatem.

 

You can browse the keywords

Gothic

Witches

Vampires

Ghosts

 

on our website.

 

All the pictures are of the actual books in stock.

 

Northern Illustrated, Children's & Detective Fiction Book Fair in Harrogate, 11th November

Exciting news for the Northern Illustrated, Children's & Detective Fiction Book Fair in Harrogate on November 11th. Crime writer Martin Edwards will be with us and will be doing a book signing!

 

 

Described by Richard Osman as 'a true master of British crime writing' Martin has recently won the CWA Diamond Dagger, the highest honour in British crime writing as well as two Edgar awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He has been Chair of the Crime Writers' Association and President of the Detection Club. He also captained the series champions in 2022 Christmas University Challenge.

Martin's highly successful books include the Rachel Savernake series, the latest installment of which is Sepulchre Street. He has also written contemporary crime series set in Liverpool and the Lake District. His strong background in crime fiction scholarship which has seen him win awards for The Life of Crime and The Golden Age of Murder led to him becoming the series advisor for the very collectable British Library Crime Classics series. You can read more about Martin Edwards on his website and his blog 

 

 

The fair opens at 10am on 11th November and as well as Martin signing his books there will be 26 exhibiting book dealers with a wide range of books from the readable to the highly collectable. There really will be something for everyone, from classic Penguin green and cream paperbacks, to signed first edition crime; from the nostaglia of the high quality Puffin children's literature series, to beautiful editions of the best known works of the most popular children's authors such as Blyton and Ransome.

Northern Illustrated, Children's & Detective Fiction (Harrogate) Book Fair

11th November 2023, 10:00 - 16:00

Pavilions of Harrogate, Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG2 8NZ

 

 

Book Review: Gallows Court by Martin Edwards

Whenever I pick up a historical novel, especially a crime novel, I am always slightly fearful of how the historicism has been managed. No fear with the highly readable Gallows Court by Martin Edwards, expert in the history of the crime genre and with two impressive series set in the modern day already under his belt. Gallows Court is the sharpest, cleanest and most authentic re-enactment of a Golden Age detective novel that I've ever seen hit the page. From the start we're completely in the world of the era. There is no sense of over-knowing awareness in some complicated implied-author sense, no feeling that we're parodying the genre or the era, or the people, or their views for not being as postmodern as us. And nor are we over-loaded with details in some kind of foggy nostalgia festival. There is no sense of:

 

                        ...the bleached
Established names on the sunblinds,
The farthings and sovereigns,
And dark-clothed children at play
Called after kings and queens,
The tin advertisements
For cocoa and twist, and the pubs
Wide open all day...

 

...with all that implied distance. We're just there: no period ephemera required. It sounds simple but it is oh-so-hard to do.*

Moving on from setting to plot and people, the main characters are engaging: the wonderful creation of the detective / journalist Jacob who is bright enough to keep us with him and with failings enough to keep us thinking we might get to the answers ahead of him (always a great driver in a novel). He surely deserves another run out in a further volume. And the brilliantly drawn women in his life, Elaine, Mrs Dowd, Sara Delamere and Rachel Savernake, turn the sleepy gentlemen's clubs and Bunter-interviewing-the-housekeeper male-female business-domestic dichotomies of the standard Golden Age novel on their head. This is truly a golden historical novel, but for our time not theirs.

The plot is tightly drawn, keeps wrong-footing you, and clues are gently disguised. I was gripped to the end.

Martin Edwards has another 1930s novel out, Mortmain Hall. I won't say which character(s) carry on into the second book as that's a big spoiler alert for the plot of the first. This is a series best read in order. Together they'd make a great present including for yourself.

 

 

Martin Edwards has a website here and you can follow him on Twitter here. He blogs at Do You Write Under your Own Name ...

*Even when an author gets it right it is often ruined by the publisher. I have been irritated by two historical crime novels within the last week. One by someone not British but with the book purportedly set here with an English cast of characters using words like 'color', 'labor' and 'woolen', and the other with a focus on counties in the 1930s which had the wrong counties (i.e. post 1974 administrative) on the cover. So hats off to both Martin Edwards and Head of Zeus for getting this so right you don't notice it: you can can glide from Sayers to Edwards to Christie without feeling the bump as you go over the chronological points!

Jill and the Lost Ponies by Jane Badger

Jill and the Lost Ponies by Jane Badger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A brilliant evocation of the world of Jill Crewe as she pursues her first year, pony-less, in secretarial college. Jane Badger captures beautifully the world and the characters of Ruby Ferguson's beloved pony book series to create a new story that had me smiling from start to finish. Voice, tone, and Jill's follies and internal self-agonising are all presented freshly and authentically. Anne, Susan Pyke, Jill's mother (and her soppy stories), cousin Cecilia, Captain Cholly-Sawcutt and other well-loved characters are all here too. I loved every minute and hope she writes some more!

Not only does Jane Badger write fiction she also publishes books. Read more about the UK's premier pony book expert here.

The Oxbridge Formula by Paarul Shah, Jessica Grindlay and Chris Parker - review

 

It has been a while since I posted on education and most children (and their parents!) are missing the support of school at the moment so this is excellent timing for the publication of The Oxbridge Formula by Paarul Shah, Jessica Grindlay and Chris Parker.

If you have a child in years 11 or 12 likely to do well/ or having done well in their GCSEs then this book is well worth your time. Although principally aimed at those planing on studying sciences and the more mathematical subjects such as economics there is much good advice here for any student in lower 6th (year 12).

Applying to Oxford or Cambridge brings challenges that applications to other universities do not - the entrance exams and admissions interviews. These can be daunting to point of putting students off even considering an application, and can also be a minefield to navigate even if they do decide to go for it. Here, then, is your answer, clearly organised and full of sound good sense.

It is a much weightier tome than you might think but is well designed for dipping in an out of the relevant sections to you. Courses are explained with "what it's like to study x" sections and explanations of how the subject differs between school and university, or what a day or week in the life of a student of that subject is like. It also summarises what you need to apply for the courses at Oxford or Cambridge in terms of A level results, or specific A level subjects. The various different entrance exams are explained - this is something of a sea of acronyms but that's hardly the authors' fault. There is plenty of depth of detail with styles of questions and the nature of the different papers discussed and QR code links for more information, sample or past papers, and free guides. I am also impressed by how many joint honours courses or courses that more interdisciplinary are considered: PPE, or Economic History for example.

The book adds to its strengths with really useful annotated sample personal statements and candidate interviews transcripts, as well as spot the successful candidate sections which compare different approaches to preparing for the exam and interview. The former show what is good to include, and how to display your experiences and interests to your advantage. Although the letters are subject specific the advice could easily be applied to any subject and would make useful reading if you're stuck on writing your personal statement (or advising your son or daughter) for any Russell Group university not just Oxford and Cambridge.

The interview transcripts show how the tutors are looking for teachability and an informed, enquiring mind. The amount of backtracking and "uming and erring" in the transcripts show how good candidates think on their feet and engage with what the tutor is asking them, but should also help nervous future applicants realise that they don't have to get everything right first time to be successful. I also like the focused sub-sections such as what a candidate without an Economics A level might get asked in an interview to study for a degree in Economics for example.

The third significant feature, the candidate profiles, are just brilliant. You can see immediately (perhaps more so if you're the parent) what are the useful ways for you (or your young person) to be spending time in the run up to the entrance exams and then the interviews. Clear differences are shown between targeted useful preparation, ill-thought out preparation or over-confidence or over-ambition, and candidates that work very hard but in the wrong way mis-directing their energies in someway, or applying for the wrong courses for their talents and interests. I think this feature as much as the more academic parts of the book is the real social leveller: it invites all candidates, whatever their background, to the world of what used to be called middle-class know-how.

Lastly there is much recommended further reading to help you prepare for the exams and most importantly for the interviews. These are potted reviews of the books not just lists. There is even recommended reading for you once you have an offer, to help you keep up to speed for your first year at university (again useful for students applying elsewhere). This latter is particularly useful if you are taking a gap year. With maths and science where so much knowledge is cumulative, you will slip back a little in your year-out and this advice will keep you on track.

As an arts graduate I asked myself was there enough here to help me understand the differences in the application systems if I was supporting a child to apply for science, medicine or maths (ie a subject far removed from mine), and there was. You can see the pathway if even if you don't understand the subject!

After closely reading the bonus chapter on studying philosophy (something I did read as an undergraduate!) I thought it balanced and informative. The suggested reading was demanding but very much in line with what I might expect to be recommended to a bright 6th former.The interview sample was thought provoking and you could see the way the student was thinking their way around the problems posed and what the tutor was trying to get out of it.

As for criticisms my biggest gripe is the sample letters are a bit London/private school-centric. Debating societies and work experience in Parliament for example are in one letter, though to its credit the notes explain that the key thing is to mention how the work experience fits with your subject choice which could apply to a much great range of life experiences. Another mentions spending a gap year working for a publicly listed software company when applying to study computer science, again unlikely to be available to you if you live in, say, rural Wales. I would like to have seen more of how a student whose background is a comprehensive school in a deprived area or a rural area, and whose out-of-school experiences might have been looking after younger siblings or working on a supermarket till might make the most of those experiences in their statement. It is fairly easy to see how working in parliament can be made to apply to the PPE course but more imaginative examples here and there would have been good. Equally though the same letter mentions doing an Open Yale course - providing ideas of something the reader could do to add to their CV with enough notice.

Overall, this is a five star guide with much to recommend it to a broad range of students. You can read more on their website here. You may also find the Russell Group website regarding the best choices for A level subjects here.

Notes:

PPE is Philosophy, Politics and Economics. A degree much beloved by future politicians, city workers and journalists.

The Russell Group is a group of 24 leading research universities (which means they prioritise academic research as well as teaching). There are many well respected universities outside of this group but it would be foolish to pretend other than that attending one of these does help graduates in the jobs market for some employers/industries.

Stanley and Elsie by Nicola Upson

Stanley and Elsie by Nicola Upson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loved every page of this. Upson manages to make art that you can't see sing, and characters you should loath become sympathetic. The world Upson creates is so real you almost feel embarrassed looking in. Wonderful, wonderful writing!

View all my reviews

40% off books for today only

 

For Monday 31st August only we're having a 40% off sale. Note the discount code 40Aug19 to use at the checkout and then browse our site. (There are more details and the small print in our newsletter here)

Book catalogues you might enjoy:

Authors A-Z
Fiction
English local history by county
Children's Literature
Poetry and Criticism
Novels and Criticism
Classics
Language Studies
History
Philosophy
Movements and Themes in Literature
French Literature
Art and Photography

 

Heroines on Horseback: The Pony Book in Children's Fiction by Jane Badger

I have sung the praises of Jane Badger many times on here and on twitter: she is a fantastic bookseller, author and now publisher. Her book Heroines on Horseback: The Pony Book in Children's Fiction which was published by GGBP has been out-of-print in paperback for a little while but Jane now has it out as an e-book available for kindle here. I don't believe there is anyone who knows more about the pony book and its wider place in children's literature than Jane and her book is an intelligent, fun read.

A few months ago Jane Badger Books began bringing back out some hard-to-find pony books as e-books and in some cases paperback too making classic pony books available again from authors such as Patricia Leitch, Victoria Eveleigh, Diana Pullein-Thompson, Josephine Pullein-Thompson and Caroline Akrill. You browse some of the selection here.