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El Jardín del 19
Este volumen recupera No. 19 (o El Jardín del 19, titulo posterior con el que se ha traducido en la mayoría de las ediciones), una de las dos únicas novelas sobrenaturales escritas por el relativamente desconocido Edgar Jepson y publicada originalmente a comienzos del siglo XX. El texto se presenta íntegro, sin modernizaciones ni adaptaciones estilísticas, respetando la puntuación, el ritmo y las convenciones de su época.
La traducción ha buscado fidelidad literaria antes que comodidad moderna. Se han conservado giros, cadencias y ciertas asperezas propias del original, incluso cuando hoy puedan resultar inusuales. Creemos que en ellas reside buena parte de su atmósfera.
Las ilustraciones y el diseño interior no pretenden acompañar el texto, sino dialogar con él: pausarlo, subrayarlo y, en ocasiones, inquietarlo. Este libro no está pensado para leerse con prisa.
Si esta obra resultara extraña, silenciosa o incómoda, cumple exactamente con su cometido.
La traducción ha buscado fidelidad literaria antes que comodidad moderna. Se han conservado giros, cadencias y ciertas asperezas propias del original, incluso cuando hoy puedan resultar inusuales. Creemos que en ellas reside buena parte de su atmósfera.
Las ilustraciones y el diseño interior no pretenden acompañar el texto, sino dialogar con él: pausarlo, subrayarlo y, en ocasiones, inquietarlo. Este libro no está pensado para leerse con prisa.
Si esta obra resultara extraña, silenciosa o incómoda, cumple exactamente con su cometido.
- GenresHorror
226 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1910
About the author
Edgar Jepson
211 books11 followersEdgar Alfred Jepson (1863 - 1938) was an English writer, principally of mainstream adventure and detective fiction, but also of some supernatural and fantasy stories that are better remembered. He used a pseudonym R. Edison Page for some of his many short stories, collaborating at times with John Gawsworth, Hugh Clevely and possibly Arthur Machen, long-term friends.
He was editor for a short period of Vanity Fair magazine, where he employed Richard Middleton, and did much to preserve the latter's memory. He was also a translator, notably of the Arsène Lupin stories of Maurice Leblanc.
He was a member of the Square Club (from 1908) of established Edwardian authors, and also one of the more senior of the New Bohemians drinking club.
As a literary dynasty: his son Selwyn Jepson was known as a crime writer; his daughter Margaret (married name Birkinshaw) published novels as Margaret Jepson (including Via Panama) and as Pearl Bellairs; and Margaret's daughter Franklin is the writer Fay Weldon. The Jepson domestic arrangements are commented on second-hand in Weldon's autobiographical writing.
Jepson was friends with the English mystery writer Hugh Clevely and even shared the same pseudonym "Tod Claymore." They co-wrote the novel "The Man With the Amber Eyes."
He was editor for a short period of Vanity Fair magazine, where he employed Richard Middleton, and did much to preserve the latter's memory. He was also a translator, notably of the Arsène Lupin stories of Maurice Leblanc.
He was a member of the Square Club (from 1908) of established Edwardian authors, and also one of the more senior of the New Bohemians drinking club.
As a literary dynasty: his son Selwyn Jepson was known as a crime writer; his daughter Margaret (married name Birkinshaw) published novels as Margaret Jepson (including Via Panama) and as Pearl Bellairs; and Margaret's daughter Franklin is the writer Fay Weldon. The Jepson domestic arrangements are commented on second-hand in Weldon's autobiographical writing.
Jepson was friends with the English mystery writer Hugh Clevely and even shared the same pseudonym "Tod Claymore." They co-wrote the novel "The Man With the Amber Eyes."
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 1, 2016
...there was a young man who bought a house. it was a nice house. next to his nice house was another house, no. 19. and in that house was an enchanting young lady and an infirm old man, her uncle. and in the garden at no. 19 were strange things and strange deeds, rituals and dances in the moonlight, things conjured, crawling huffing things, old gods addressed and sometimes answering...
...there was an author named Edgar Jepson. he wrote many books and they were popular. but now he is forgotten, alas! such is time, always moving forward and leaving things in the past...
...there were 7 Lords of the Abyss. their names: Moloch and Nodens and Adonis and Mithras and Shiva and fair Ashtoreth and the one dearest to the hearts of the residents at no. 19... furry-legged, cloven-foot Pan. time moved forward and left these gods in the past. but they wait still, in the Abyss.
Pan, more than all the others, wants to get to know you. come play with Pan! or maybe he'll just come to you...
Jepson has a lovely way with words: charming, witty, at times even dainty. his story is poignant and pleasant to read. even better, this cautionary tale of horror is happily free of caution, or any old-fashioned moralizing. there may be ancient gods and there may be pagan rituals to call up those gods, but our hero and heroine - and indeed the author himself - are refreshingly free of any judgmental nonsense towards forbidden books and forgotten horrors and strange acts that take place in the dead of the night that let loose an unknown menace and create a pervasive sense of disturbing wrongness that begins to infect the entire neighborhood, even causing the poor nearly-deaf maidservant to become stricken with terror at the thought of going in the garden. it's all such a lark! well, until it's not.
there is actually a moral to the tale: if you are an old adventurer who has spent his life traveling throughout the world in search of all of its hidden mysteries... 'tis best not to wait until your golden years to use your secret knowledge to conjure up who knows what. especially if you aren't in complete control of your physical and mental faculties. nothing good can come of some doddering senior on the verge of a stroke messing about with such things!
November 8, 2017
Eminently prolific (if nowadays remembered mainly for his translation of Arsène Lupin) Jepson’s “The Garden at 19“ certainly doesn’t warrant overblown comparisons to Blackwood and Machen. There are some surface similarities in the subject matter, and, like those two gentlemen, Jepson obviously had actual interest in the occult. Other than that, this is a very different beast, more akin to something that might have been serialized in the pulp magazines on the other side of the Atlantic.
This short, slightly pulpy and misleadingly lighthearted little occult horror novel is narrated by one John Plowden, young lawyer whom a series of strangely fortuitous circumstances brings into possession of a house in this seemingly all but abandoned corner of London. Previous owners rarely stayed there for long, never a good sign, and the only other inhabited property nearby – one that also appears to be a source of all the surrounding strangeness – is the house at the titular no. 19. He eventually becomes acquainted with its owner, Mr. Woodfell’s, engagement in mystery rites and his trafficking with qlippothic powers. Jepson had personal acquaintance with these subjects, and one suspects that even the funny jabs at, say, manner in which “dry German professors” treated mystery religions reflects his own feelings. In any case, this adds a layer of authenticity to the whole thing. So much so that Crowley apparently really liked the portrayal of occultism in this book. Don‘t be mistaken tho: while author‘s love for the subject is obvious, he portrays the whole pursuit as rife with dangers. Age didn’t lead to wisdom in old Woodfell’s case, making him all the more impatient, careless and hungry for knowledge…
Jepson writes in simple and unpretentious prose. There’s is an atmosphere of impending disaster to the most of the novel, slightly abated by its lightheartedness. Horrors are always kept off-stage and left to imagination, something I think is for the best given their nature. There is even this slight element of ambiguity to the whole thing, having its source in Plowden’s skeptical friend – tho most readers will be able to draw their own conclusions about what happens in the end. However, this, combined with how the largest part of the novel serves as an elaborate build-up, might leave a number of readers unsatisfied. Even for them, Jepson’s writing is easygoing, his characters likable and easy to cheer for, his ability to craft appropriate atmosphere more that respectable. Easy, fun read.
This short, slightly pulpy and misleadingly lighthearted little occult horror novel is narrated by one John Plowden, young lawyer whom a series of strangely fortuitous circumstances brings into possession of a house in this seemingly all but abandoned corner of London. Previous owners rarely stayed there for long, never a good sign, and the only other inhabited property nearby – one that also appears to be a source of all the surrounding strangeness – is the house at the titular no. 19. He eventually becomes acquainted with its owner, Mr. Woodfell’s, engagement in mystery rites and his trafficking with qlippothic powers. Jepson had personal acquaintance with these subjects, and one suspects that even the funny jabs at, say, manner in which “dry German professors” treated mystery religions reflects his own feelings. In any case, this adds a layer of authenticity to the whole thing. So much so that Crowley apparently really liked the portrayal of occultism in this book. Don‘t be mistaken tho: while author‘s love for the subject is obvious, he portrays the whole pursuit as rife with dangers. Age didn’t lead to wisdom in old Woodfell’s case, making him all the more impatient, careless and hungry for knowledge…
Jepson writes in simple and unpretentious prose. There’s is an atmosphere of impending disaster to the most of the novel, slightly abated by its lightheartedness. Horrors are always kept off-stage and left to imagination, something I think is for the best given their nature. There is even this slight element of ambiguity to the whole thing, having its source in Plowden’s skeptical friend – tho most readers will be able to draw their own conclusions about what happens in the end. However, this, combined with how the largest part of the novel serves as an elaborate build-up, might leave a number of readers unsatisfied. Even for them, Jepson’s writing is easygoing, his characters likable and easy to cheer for, his ability to craft appropriate atmosphere more that respectable. Easy, fun read.
April 2, 2020
A young man moves into an apartment on a street with lots of vacant housing. There's something not quite right about the adjacent property. The garden is silent-- no chirping birds, not even crickets.
Perhaps because I've lived in cities where you can hear your neighbor sneeze, you know the music that they like, their pacing the floor habits, this one, while not scary, seeped into my psyche and has taken up residence.
You just never know what your neighbors are up to exactly, do you? And what if they are summoning evil? This story was brought up in a classic ghost story group and someone commented that Aleister Crowley loved this story and gave out copies to his friends. Hmmm...
It's a bit long, simple--or, if there is depth, subplot or wink wink symbolism I totally missed it. The narrator's naivete at the end is annoying. I really liked it though, for all that. Were I a film-maker, I'd be figuring out how to work the ending and looking for the perfect location to start filming. This could be a terrific short film. It's very visual.
The number 19 will, going forward, summon images of dread in a sinister garden for me.
Perhaps because I've lived in cities where you can hear your neighbor sneeze, you know the music that they like, their pacing the floor habits, this one, while not scary, seeped into my psyche and has taken up residence.
You just never know what your neighbors are up to exactly, do you? And what if they are summoning evil? This story was brought up in a classic ghost story group and someone commented that Aleister Crowley loved this story and gave out copies to his friends. Hmmm...
It's a bit long, simple--or, if there is depth, subplot or wink wink symbolism I totally missed it. The narrator's naivete at the end is annoying. I really liked it though, for all that. Were I a film-maker, I'd be figuring out how to work the ending and looking for the perfect location to start filming. This could be a terrific short film. It's very visual.
The number 19 will, going forward, summon images of dread in a sinister garden for me.
April 23, 2021
Basically a cross between Arthur Machen and H.P. Lovecraft, with the pagan mysticism of the former and the sheer pulp of the latter. A fun horror read but simplistic in narrative and characterization, and also pretty derivative if you already know Machen.
And I know this was written in 1910, but the portrayal of Pamela was . . . uncomfortable. She's introduced as a literal child: "That's no good for a growing girl," John says to her at one point, like she's barely ten years old. But then it turns out she's seventeen and John, a grownass lawyer, falls in love with her and wants to marry her. WTF.
And I know this was written in 1910, but the portrayal of Pamela was . . . uncomfortable. She's introduced as a literal child: "That's no good for a growing girl," John says to her at one point, like she's barely ten years old. But then it turns out she's seventeen and John, a grownass lawyer, falls in love with her and wants to marry her. WTF.
December 22, 2022
[Schegge Riunite] (2022). Reprint. HB. 240 Pages. Purchased from Amazon.
Edgar Jepson’s (1863-1938) “The Garden at 19” (1910) is very much hewn in the shadow of Arthur Machen’s “The Great God Pan” (1894).
It is, in every respect, inferior to its predecessor.
The yarn - which is threaded with an emetic ‘romantic’ sub-plot - orbits around the occult efforts of various crackpots. They endeavour to raise “the beast” in the backyard of a domestic property on the outskirts of London.
John Plowden, a young lawyer, is the narrator - adjacently resident at No. 20.
A brave man, he sanguinely persists in observation of strange and sinister occurrences.
Many would consider taking flight when discovering that their neighbour’s cupola - “…the very centre of the spreading horror…” - in fact masked “the mouth of the abyss”.
He puts Bulldog Drummond to shame, fronting it out with the aid of brandy, biscuits, amulets and chalk circles (festooned, of course, with mystic symbols).
The denouement entails two corpses and a lunatic (“hopeless case”).
It echoes an alleged Aleister Crowley ‘episode’ - as recounted in “Drink and Ink” (1979) - one of Dennis Wheatley’s various excellent volumes of autobiography.
Mediocre writing, serving up another salutary lesson for those aspiring to “the forbidden” and “wonderful things” - the “…residuum of most important truth… all there is to know”.
Somewhat amusing.
Overlong.
Edgar Jepson’s (1863-1938) “The Garden at 19” (1910) is very much hewn in the shadow of Arthur Machen’s “The Great God Pan” (1894).
It is, in every respect, inferior to its predecessor.
The yarn - which is threaded with an emetic ‘romantic’ sub-plot - orbits around the occult efforts of various crackpots. They endeavour to raise “the beast” in the backyard of a domestic property on the outskirts of London.
John Plowden, a young lawyer, is the narrator - adjacently resident at No. 20.
A brave man, he sanguinely persists in observation of strange and sinister occurrences.
Many would consider taking flight when discovering that their neighbour’s cupola - “…the very centre of the spreading horror…” - in fact masked “the mouth of the abyss”.
He puts Bulldog Drummond to shame, fronting it out with the aid of brandy, biscuits, amulets and chalk circles (festooned, of course, with mystic symbols).
The denouement entails two corpses and a lunatic (“hopeless case”).
It echoes an alleged Aleister Crowley ‘episode’ - as recounted in “Drink and Ink” (1979) - one of Dennis Wheatley’s various excellent volumes of autobiography.
Mediocre writing, serving up another salutary lesson for those aspiring to “the forbidden” and “wonderful things” - the “…residuum of most important truth… all there is to know”.
Somewhat amusing.
Overlong.
February 7, 2017
Very good indeed, I will post a fuller review. The very conventional writing style and setting help to put the supernatural elements into stronger relief
February 21, 2018
Exciting short novel, far more modern than we think of when we read about the world of 1910.
September 30, 2025
Ispirato e dedicato alla novella "Il grande dio Pan" di arthyr Machen, questo libro non si avvicina minimamente al capolavoro dell'autore gallese.
La trama: un uomo acquista una casa in una via che pian piano si sta spopolando a causa di un'insana aurea che avvolge il posto. Il nostro protagonista scoprirà presto che la causa è il suo vicino di casa, al numero 19 appunto, che si trastulla con riti pagani antichissimi ed evoca presenze/creature/ombre dall'abisso. Il nostro protagonista però non si scoraggia quando vede la nipote dello studioso evocatore, una graziosa donzella di cui si innamora perdutamente e praticamente la stalkera finché non cede.
Nel frattempo lo zio occultista prosegue con i suoi orribili riti in giardino, insieme ad altri iniziati, cercando di evocare uno degli dei dell'Abisso
Seppur con un inizio intrigante, il libro perde rapidamente di fascino in quanto non c'è nulla di originale. Fin da subito si capisce cosa succederà, come succederà e come andrà a finire. La scrittura di Jepson è figlia del suo tempo, non brilla particolarmente e a tratti si dilunga in cose (come la rendita annua dei vari personaggi) davvero noiose. I personaggi sono abbastanza caratterizzati, ma non brillano di carisma, mentre le atmosfere sono riuscite e congeniali alla storia.
Un nota dolente sull'edizione, Dagon Press, che ha pubblicato questo libro in Italiano, è una casa editrice "One Man Army": cura e traduzione del volume sono affidate ad una sola persona e questo pesa parecchio. Il testo manca di una seria revisione, graficamente il libro è poco curato, con famiglie diverse di font o parole in italico senza un motivo valido, virgolette di forme differenti e in alcuni casi mai chiuse alla fine di un dialogo. A fine libro c'è anche un'immagine con la filigrana di sfondo del sito da cui è stata presa, evidentemente copia/incolla di una banale ricerca su Google senza nessuno sbattimento.
Un vero peccato che la casa editrice non metta nella cura dei volumi e nella realizzazione tecnica lo stesso sforzo e passione che mette nella ricerca dei testi da proporre.
La trama: un uomo acquista una casa in una via che pian piano si sta spopolando a causa di un'insana aurea che avvolge il posto. Il nostro protagonista scoprirà presto che la causa è il suo vicino di casa, al numero 19 appunto, che si trastulla con riti pagani antichissimi ed evoca presenze/creature/ombre dall'abisso. Il nostro protagonista però non si scoraggia quando vede la nipote dello studioso evocatore, una graziosa donzella di cui si innamora perdutamente e praticamente la stalkera finché non cede.
Nel frattempo lo zio occultista prosegue con i suoi orribili riti in giardino, insieme ad altri iniziati, cercando di evocare uno degli dei dell'Abisso
Seppur con un inizio intrigante, il libro perde rapidamente di fascino in quanto non c'è nulla di originale. Fin da subito si capisce cosa succederà, come succederà e come andrà a finire. La scrittura di Jepson è figlia del suo tempo, non brilla particolarmente e a tratti si dilunga in cose (come la rendita annua dei vari personaggi) davvero noiose. I personaggi sono abbastanza caratterizzati, ma non brillano di carisma, mentre le atmosfere sono riuscite e congeniali alla storia.
Un nota dolente sull'edizione, Dagon Press, che ha pubblicato questo libro in Italiano, è una casa editrice "One Man Army": cura e traduzione del volume sono affidate ad una sola persona e questo pesa parecchio. Il testo manca di una seria revisione, graficamente il libro è poco curato, con famiglie diverse di font o parole in italico senza un motivo valido, virgolette di forme differenti e in alcuni casi mai chiuse alla fine di un dialogo. A fine libro c'è anche un'immagine con la filigrana di sfondo del sito da cui è stata presa, evidentemente copia/incolla di una banale ricerca su Google senza nessuno sbattimento.
Un vero peccato che la casa editrice non metta nella cura dei volumi e nella realizzazione tecnica lo stesso sforzo e passione che mette nella ricerca dei testi da proporre.
February 13, 2026
Si en la reseña de El Pastor Cornudo, también de Edgar Jepson, ya comentaba que la temática recordaba a El Gran Dios Pan de Arthur Machen, este podría considerarse incluso una "secuela" de dicho relato, lo cual es garantía de que si, como yo, disfrutáis de este tipo de historias de rituales, artes oscuras, y en definitiva, de la búsqueda de lo prohibido a cambio de la cordura, esta novela también os gustará.
El texto mantiene la intriga en todo momento y, a pesar de lo indicado en la sinopsis, bajo mi punto de vista se lee muy fácil; querrás seguir pasando páginas para saber qué demonios (nunca mejor dicho) se cuece en el número 19 de Walden Road. El único "pero" que le pongo es que quizás el final ha sido algo descafeinado.
El texto mantiene la intriga en todo momento y, a pesar de lo indicado en la sinopsis, bajo mi punto de vista se lee muy fácil; querrás seguir pasando páginas para saber qué demonios (nunca mejor dicho) se cuece en el número 19 de Walden Road. El único "pero" que le pongo es que quizás el final ha sido algo descafeinado.
June 2, 2026
Calificación 3.5 estrellas
Fue una grata sorpresa encontrarme con esta novela de 1910, cuya trama gira en torno a rituales, magia negra y ocultismo.
Lo que más me gustó de la novela fue la ambientación gótica. Aunque está clasificada dentro del género del terror, a mí me pareció más una historia de misterio con elementos sobrenaturales. Varias escenas que prometían ser espeluznantes, suceden "fuera de página", ya que el autor prefirió dejarlas a la imaginación del lector.
El final fue aceptable aunque me dejó con ganas de más. Sentí que se desperdició un poco a algunos personajes y el factor "sobrenatural".
Por otro lado, la lectura de este libro no me resultó tan fluida como esperaba porque lo leí en inglés. Tiene muchas expresiones británicas, terminología relacionada con el ocultismo y vocabulario poco frecuente y que yo desconocía.
Aun así, disfruté la lectura y me ayudó para practicar el idioma y adquirir más vocabulario.
Fue una grata sorpresa encontrarme con esta novela de 1910, cuya trama gira en torno a rituales, magia negra y ocultismo.
Lo que más me gustó de la novela fue la ambientación gótica. Aunque está clasificada dentro del género del terror, a mí me pareció más una historia de misterio con elementos sobrenaturales. Varias escenas que prometían ser espeluznantes, suceden "fuera de página", ya que el autor prefirió dejarlas a la imaginación del lector.
El final fue aceptable aunque me dejó con ganas de más. Sentí que se desperdició un poco a algunos personajes y el factor "sobrenatural".
Por otro lado, la lectura de este libro no me resultó tan fluida como esperaba porque lo leí en inglés. Tiene muchas expresiones británicas, terminología relacionada con el ocultismo y vocabulario poco frecuente y que yo desconocía.
Aun así, disfruté la lectura y me ayudó para practicar el idioma y adquirir más vocabulario.
February 24, 2026
Es esta una buena novela de búsqueda de lo desconocido a través de rituales paganos. Es curioso cuánto valoran el conocimiento los protagonistas de estas historias. Lo que están investigando da cada vez más miedo, pero siguen hasta el final. Y ahora no pasamos de usar la Wikipedia.
Bromas aparte, el libro engancha y deja un par de detalles sugerentes. Escrito en primera persona con una prosa sencilla, sin estridencias, tal vez le falte un poco de atmósfera, pero lo compensa con una pizca de romance, misterio y un protagonista que cae bien.
Inaugura esta novela la colección Negra de Críptica, que sucede a la colección Críptica normal. Es una edición cuidada que contiene las ilustraciones originales, aunque a mí me gustaba más el diseño anterior de la colección.
En resumen, una historia interesante, aunque no imprescindible.
Bromas aparte, el libro engancha y deja un par de detalles sugerentes. Escrito en primera persona con una prosa sencilla, sin estridencias, tal vez le falte un poco de atmósfera, pero lo compensa con una pizca de romance, misterio y un protagonista que cae bien.
Inaugura esta novela la colección Negra de Críptica, que sucede a la colección Críptica normal. Es una edición cuidada que contiene las ilustraciones originales, aunque a mí me gustaba más el diseño anterior de la colección.
En resumen, una historia interesante, aunque no imprescindible.
December 9, 2017
Harmless, pointless and inoffensive novel that feels more dated than the Castle of Otranto despite being written in 1910.
Did he not read Arthur Machen?
The language, narrative structure, characters and story development are so basic and simplistic that everything seemed lighter than air.
Did he not read Arthur Machen?
The language, narrative structure, characters and story development are so basic and simplistic that everything seemed lighter than air.
March 7, 2025
A book I didn't know but am glad to have discovered. The author was an associate of Arthur Machen and the book's plot, about a very bad neighbor opening demonic gates, is like a breezier version of "The Great God Pan." Wildly entertaining, hard to put down, this would make an excellent basis for a film, maybe even better if the setting was updated to the present day.
November 16, 2017
I ought to be grateful that I have nothing worse next door than three teenage boys, a bored Alsatian, and a noisy Volkswagen Jetta.
September 14, 2019
Read all the way through sorry not impressed it was too long and i was glad when I finished it .it was written a long time ago and it showed.
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