SOME CHINESE GHOSTS

Boston: Robert Brothers, 1887. First edition. Just a touch of rubbing to binding extremities, else a fine, bright copy. A lovely copy. Uncommon in this condition. (27966). Octavo, pp. [1-4] [i-iii] iv [v-viii] [9] 10-185 [186-188: blank] [note: last leaf is a blank], flyleaves at front and rear, original decorated red-orange cloth, front panel stamped in black, spine panel stamped in gold, top edge stained red, white endpapers with floral pattern printed in olive-green. The second book written by Hearn and the first to collect his Oriental ghost fiction. "Hearn's ghostly fiction occupies a place unique in the history of ghost stories in the English language. Most of his ghost stories are actually retellings of Japanese (and some Chinese) legends and folk tales. Utterly devoid of Gothic trappings, their tone and subject matter set them apart from their occidental counterparts. It is not surprising that although he wrote in English Hearn is still revered by some Japanese as a Japanese writer. For Hearn, the ghostly was a natural part of the Japanese landscape ... Hearn's creatures are not violent intrusions upon everyday reality; they permeate that reality." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 199-200. Bleiler, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction 787. Bleiler (1978), p. 97. Reginald 07015. BAL 7916.