BENSON, Edward Frederic.

£1,450 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Judgment Books. First edition. This supernatural work by Edward Frederic Benson demonstrates his ability as an "important, capable, and skilful Edwardian author of supernatural fiction" (Bleiler). Although best known for the social satires of his Mapp and Lucia novels his "stories of horror and the supernatural have remained consistently popular" (ODNB). This work tells the story of a portrait painter who, as he paints his sitter, finds some of his personality move into the portrait and part of the sitter's personality move to him. The tale is reminiscent of Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was published in book form in 1891. This is an uncommon work with seven copies traced institutionally worldwide.

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