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Sphinxes & Obelisks
Why did Queen Victoria demand to see the disembodied head of a talking sphinx? Why will you never find the fabulous art deco book In That Look the Unicorn Stood? What was the slight flaw in the idea of racing cheetahs at the White City? What was the date confidently given for apocalypse at a Somerset railway station book-stall? Who had visions of Atlantis in an old house in Nightingale Lane?
These and many other enigmas are discussed in this new book of essays from Mark Valentine. As in his previous well-received collections, you will also be offered suggestions for recondite reading in overlooked books that ought to be better known: an interplanetary fantasy by a Welsh squire; a timeslip into a mysterious England by a priest once called the original of Dorian Gray; an avant-garde novel about a tea-party and the Holy Grail.
Whether he is discussing old inn signs, Cornish tin mine ruins, how to play Cat-at-the-Window, or the joys of book-collecting expeditions, the author shares with us an array of enthusiasms and explorations, told in an enquiring and engaging way.
Contents:
‘Introduction’, ‘“Change Here for the Dark Age”: Edward Shanks’ The People of the Ruins’, ‘The Interplanetary Jacobite: H.M. Vaughan’, ‘Sombre Gloom: The Macabre Thrillers of Riccardo Stephens’, ‘The Magician and the Book: E. Temple Thurston’s Man in a Black Hat’, ‘The Cry of the Curlew: Anne Douglas Sedgwick’s The Third Window’, ‘A Visit to Old Haunts: Cynthia Asquith’s Ghost Book’, ‘Brushed by Moth Wings: The Fleeting Fame of Francis Bourdillon’, ‘Apocalypse and Marrow Jam: Pilgrim from Paddington by Naomi Royde-Smith’, ‘Phoenician Rites and Chaldee Roots’, ‘A Map of Old Dunwich, and Egypt in England’, ‘The Summoner of the Sphinx’, ‘Cricket in Babylon’, ‘The Atlantean Angel in Nightingale Lane’, ‘Racing Cheetahs: Kenneth Gandar-Dower, Explorer and Eccentric’, ‘The “Wonder Unlimited”: Hope Hodgson’s Tales of Captain Gault’, ‘“A Strange and Striking Fragment”: Gerald Warre Cornish’s Beneath the Surface’, ‘The First Master Villain: Guy Boothby’s Dr Nikola’, ‘An Experiment in the Sensational: Gerald Cumberland’s The Cypress Chest’, ‘Three Regency Fantasias’, ‘Cat-at-the-Window: A Note on a Late Victorian Game’, ‘Three Literary Mysteries of the 1930s’, ‘A Dry Patrician Wine: John Gray’s Park, A Fantastic Story’, ‘The Fall of a Cup: Philip Toynbee’s Tea with Mrs Goodman’, ‘Twinned Destinies: Helen Simpson’s Cups Wands and Swords’, ‘Tarot in the 1950s: A Note on Bernard Bromage’, ‘Three Strange Novels of the Sixties’, ‘Tin Mine Gothic (& others also lost)’, ‘The Road to Caermaen: Arthur Machen in the 1980s’, ‘“A Fashion in Shrouds”: What Do Ghosts Wear?’, ‘Stuck in a Book’, ‘The Saracen’s Head’, ‘Passages in the West’, ‘Acknowledgements’.
These and many other enigmas are discussed in this new book of essays from Mark Valentine. As in his previous well-received collections, you will also be offered suggestions for recondite reading in overlooked books that ought to be better known: an interplanetary fantasy by a Welsh squire; a timeslip into a mysterious England by a priest once called the original of Dorian Gray; an avant-garde novel about a tea-party and the Holy Grail.
Whether he is discussing old inn signs, Cornish tin mine ruins, how to play Cat-at-the-Window, or the joys of book-collecting expeditions, the author shares with us an array of enthusiasms and explorations, told in an enquiring and engaging way.
Contents:
‘Introduction’, ‘“Change Here for the Dark Age”: Edward Shanks’ The People of the Ruins’, ‘The Interplanetary Jacobite: H.M. Vaughan’, ‘Sombre Gloom: The Macabre Thrillers of Riccardo Stephens’, ‘The Magician and the Book: E. Temple Thurston’s Man in a Black Hat’, ‘The Cry of the Curlew: Anne Douglas Sedgwick’s The Third Window’, ‘A Visit to Old Haunts: Cynthia Asquith’s Ghost Book’, ‘Brushed by Moth Wings: The Fleeting Fame of Francis Bourdillon’, ‘Apocalypse and Marrow Jam: Pilgrim from Paddington by Naomi Royde-Smith’, ‘Phoenician Rites and Chaldee Roots’, ‘A Map of Old Dunwich, and Egypt in England’, ‘The Summoner of the Sphinx’, ‘Cricket in Babylon’, ‘The Atlantean Angel in Nightingale Lane’, ‘Racing Cheetahs: Kenneth Gandar-Dower, Explorer and Eccentric’, ‘The “Wonder Unlimited”: Hope Hodgson’s Tales of Captain Gault’, ‘“A Strange and Striking Fragment”: Gerald Warre Cornish’s Beneath the Surface’, ‘The First Master Villain: Guy Boothby’s Dr Nikola’, ‘An Experiment in the Sensational: Gerald Cumberland’s The Cypress Chest’, ‘Three Regency Fantasias’, ‘Cat-at-the-Window: A Note on a Late Victorian Game’, ‘Three Literary Mysteries of the 1930s’, ‘A Dry Patrician Wine: John Gray’s Park, A Fantastic Story’, ‘The Fall of a Cup: Philip Toynbee’s Tea with Mrs Goodman’, ‘Twinned Destinies: Helen Simpson’s Cups Wands and Swords’, ‘Tarot in the 1950s: A Note on Bernard Bromage’, ‘Three Strange Novels of the Sixties’, ‘Tin Mine Gothic (& others also lost)’, ‘The Road to Caermaen: Arthur Machen in the 1980s’, ‘“A Fashion in Shrouds”: What Do Ghosts Wear?’, ‘Stuck in a Book’, ‘The Saracen’s Head’, ‘Passages in the West’, ‘Acknowledgements’.
- GenresBooks About BooksEssays
266 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2021
3 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Mark Valentine
269 books138 followersMark Valentine is an English author, biographer and editor.
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
Valentine’s short stories have been published by a number of small presses and in anthologies since the 1980s, and the exploits of his series character, "The Connoisseur", an occult detective, were published as The Collected Connoisseur in 2010.
As a biographer, Valentine has published a life of Arthur Machen in 1985 (Seren Press), and a study of Sarban, Time, A Falconer (Tartarus Press), is published in 2010. He has also written numerous articles for the Book and Magazine Collector magazine, and introductions for various books, including editions of work by Walter de la Mare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Saki, J. Meade Falkner and others.
Valentine also edits Wormwood (Tartarus Press), a journal dedicated to fantastic, supernatural and decadent literature, and has also edited anthologies, including The Werewolf Pack (Wordsworth, 2008) and The Black Veil (Wordsworth, 2008).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 15, 2021
full post here: http://www.nonfictionrealstuff.com/20...
The other day I received an email notifying me that Tartarus has published a two-volume set of the Collected Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions, which I quickly bought. I received a "notification of payment" email from Ray Russell, saying that the books would be posted next week. I emailed back to thank him and happened to mention how very much I was enjoying this book, and he made the most spot-on comment ever:
"Mark has a way of making you feel that you need just a few more shelves..."
A "few more shelves" indeed: this time around the final tally is fourteen books bought out of the list of 36 I noted as "want to read," with three more already on my shelves thanks to Valancourt. Where I'm going to put all of these I don't know, but that's what happens when I read Valentine's essays. I know from experience that before I even open one of his books I'm going to need a pen and paper to write down the titles he discusses, and I also know that I will not escape unscathed as far as the bank account goes. And I don't care.
Beginning and ending with treks through bookstores (never new books, by the way), in dreams and with writer John Howard, Sphinxes and Obelisks is another must-read collection for fellow travelers who are easily led down the rabbit hole to dally in the realm of the obscure. I have to say that Mark Valentine is one of the few writers whose fiction and nonfiction works consistently attain the level of near perfection; this book has the feel of listening to an old friend whose love of literature knows no bounds.
Very, very highly recommended; one of my favorite books so far this year.
The other day I received an email notifying me that Tartarus has published a two-volume set of the Collected Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions, which I quickly bought. I received a "notification of payment" email from Ray Russell, saying that the books would be posted next week. I emailed back to thank him and happened to mention how very much I was enjoying this book, and he made the most spot-on comment ever:
"Mark has a way of making you feel that you need just a few more shelves..."
A "few more shelves" indeed: this time around the final tally is fourteen books bought out of the list of 36 I noted as "want to read," with three more already on my shelves thanks to Valancourt. Where I'm going to put all of these I don't know, but that's what happens when I read Valentine's essays. I know from experience that before I even open one of his books I'm going to need a pen and paper to write down the titles he discusses, and I also know that I will not escape unscathed as far as the bank account goes. And I don't care.
Beginning and ending with treks through bookstores (never new books, by the way), in dreams and with writer John Howard, Sphinxes and Obelisks is another must-read collection for fellow travelers who are easily led down the rabbit hole to dally in the realm of the obscure. I have to say that Mark Valentine is one of the few writers whose fiction and nonfiction works consistently attain the level of near perfection; this book has the feel of listening to an old friend whose love of literature knows no bounds.
Very, very highly recommended; one of my favorite books so far this year.
April 26, 2021
*FULL DISCLOSURE. I HAVE KNOWN MARK FOR AT LEAST TWENTY YEARS*
If you prefer the odder byways of literature, or just the odd (and if you read my other reviews then you probably do) then I suspect I will be teaching the metaphorical grannie to suck eggs when I say that Mark Valentine is an excellent guide/indicator of various paths to explore. If his name is new to you, then you will find much to enjoy in this book.
Of the thirty-two essays in this book, the majority of them relate to authors. Some are ‘relatively’ well known, Arthur Machen and William Hope Hodgson are both ‘names’ in weird fiction circles and John Gray might ring a bell for some as the possible candidate for Wilde’s ‘Dorian Gray’. But I imagine many of the others might be utter unknowns. O.K. I’m speaking for myself here, they were to me.
However, as I read these pieces I found myself thinking “why haven’t I heard of author ‘x’” or “why haven’t I read the book ‘y’”. All the essays are interesting (I’ve said elsewhere that such is Valentine’s style he could make a shopping list sound interesting) and we are not talking about ‘rare’ (as in expensive) books per se. It is just that Valentine is the one rooting about on the dusty bottom shelves of charity bookshops, pulling out the faded bindings and flipping through the more oddly titled. He also has a good memory; so-and-so was a friend of so-and-so and thus a book might be interesting or author x mentions this book etc. If these books and authors are obscure to us, it is that we haven’t ‘seen’ them on the shelves rather than being unable to afford them.
A few of the essays are introductions to books Valentine has rediscovered and persuaded modern publishers (such as Valencourt) to re-issue, such as Riccardo Stephen’s ‘The Mummy’, Temple Thurston’s ‘Man in A Black Hat’ or Guy Boothby’s ‘Dr Nikola, Master Criminal’, but most are observations about authors who ‘perhaps should be better known’. What could fail to be intrigued by H.M. Vaughn’s ‘The Dial of Abaz’ in which the protagonist can relive his life armed with the knowledge he has gained the first time around but with a time limit of fifteen years; or ‘The Phoenician Origins of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons (1924) by ‘John Huntingdon’. The suggestion that Anne Douglas Sedgwick’s ‘The Third Window’ was a novella which has a touch of Henry James’ ‘Turn Of The Screw’ about it, immediately sent me to the net to procure a copy. It only cost a few pounds for who has ever heard of her? Perhaps she should be better known…my review of it is forthcoming!
Certain themes and references emerge. The Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machen and the waspish Ronald Firbank are touchstone authors. Psychogeography, or ‘deep topography’ as it is also known nowadays, would also appear to be a thread that runs through the book. If these are interests of yours then you’ll like this book. If they are not interests of yours (yet!), this book might be a good starting place. Or just enjoy the evocative prose, the considered opinions and erudition that shimmers on the page. It is a winner however you dice it up, recommended!
If you prefer the odder byways of literature, or just the odd (and if you read my other reviews then you probably do) then I suspect I will be teaching the metaphorical grannie to suck eggs when I say that Mark Valentine is an excellent guide/indicator of various paths to explore. If his name is new to you, then you will find much to enjoy in this book.
Of the thirty-two essays in this book, the majority of them relate to authors. Some are ‘relatively’ well known, Arthur Machen and William Hope Hodgson are both ‘names’ in weird fiction circles and John Gray might ring a bell for some as the possible candidate for Wilde’s ‘Dorian Gray’. But I imagine many of the others might be utter unknowns. O.K. I’m speaking for myself here, they were to me.
However, as I read these pieces I found myself thinking “why haven’t I heard of author ‘x’” or “why haven’t I read the book ‘y’”. All the essays are interesting (I’ve said elsewhere that such is Valentine’s style he could make a shopping list sound interesting) and we are not talking about ‘rare’ (as in expensive) books per se. It is just that Valentine is the one rooting about on the dusty bottom shelves of charity bookshops, pulling out the faded bindings and flipping through the more oddly titled. He also has a good memory; so-and-so was a friend of so-and-so and thus a book might be interesting or author x mentions this book etc. If these books and authors are obscure to us, it is that we haven’t ‘seen’ them on the shelves rather than being unable to afford them.
A few of the essays are introductions to books Valentine has rediscovered and persuaded modern publishers (such as Valencourt) to re-issue, such as Riccardo Stephen’s ‘The Mummy’, Temple Thurston’s ‘Man in A Black Hat’ or Guy Boothby’s ‘Dr Nikola, Master Criminal’, but most are observations about authors who ‘perhaps should be better known’. What could fail to be intrigued by H.M. Vaughn’s ‘The Dial of Abaz’ in which the protagonist can relive his life armed with the knowledge he has gained the first time around but with a time limit of fifteen years; or ‘The Phoenician Origins of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons (1924) by ‘John Huntingdon’. The suggestion that Anne Douglas Sedgwick’s ‘The Third Window’ was a novella which has a touch of Henry James’ ‘Turn Of The Screw’ about it, immediately sent me to the net to procure a copy. It only cost a few pounds for who has ever heard of her? Perhaps she should be better known…my review of it is forthcoming!
Certain themes and references emerge. The Welsh author and mystic Arthur Machen and the waspish Ronald Firbank are touchstone authors. Psychogeography, or ‘deep topography’ as it is also known nowadays, would also appear to be a thread that runs through the book. If these are interests of yours then you’ll like this book. If they are not interests of yours (yet!), this book might be a good starting place. Or just enjoy the evocative prose, the considered opinions and erudition that shimmers on the page. It is a winner however you dice it up, recommended!
December 19, 2021
I am always edified by reading a Mark Valentine book. Inevitably, I pick up new words I was unaware of or that I had never paid attention to (Divagation was the first such word in this volume - found on page 1), I learn about obscure authors from Valentines explorations into the recondite corners of literature, in the case of his non-fiction, or the strange corners of irreality in his fiction, and I am always struck by his understated sense of humor, which pops up at the oddest of times (this chronological quirkiness is part of the charm, I suppose). buying a book by Mark Valentine is never a wasted dollar. Reading the introduction to this book alone justified the cost.
The problem, of course, is that Valentine sets my wallet on fire with his discoveries and revelations. The first urge to go hunting here was spurred by the essay on Riccardo Stephens. Last time I followed Valentine's recommendation, I absolutely fell head over heels for the works of Mary Butts, whom I had never heard of before reading about her in Valentine's outstanding Haunted by Books. Tempting. Yet again, so tempting. Get thee behind me Mark Valentine!
Does this mean that I take the Valentine bait hook, line, and sinker? Well, okay, in terms of his fiction and poetry, yes. But his nonfiction, while amazing, sometimes shows holes. For example, Valentine's review of Asquith's anthology The Ghost Book is . . . nothing special, to put it bluntly. Maybe the first instance I've seen of Valentine "phoning it in," as they say. Given the source material, though, no one can blame him. Still, I was a little disappointed with the essay. I suppose that with Valentine's prolific output, one is bound to find a dud. Soon thereafter, the essay on Nephele, or at least the idea of the novel, I found intriguing, but not necessarily compelling.
Thankfully, this was just the warmup act. He soon hits his stride, as one should expect:
In his essay "Phoenician Rites and Chaldee Roots," Valentine carves a labyrinth, a sort of archaeology of an intellectual maze that meanders from Shakespeare to Machen to Homes and Watson. This is the sort of wandering intellectual exercise that I love and that Valentine excels at. What is the thesis? Um. I'm not sure there is one. What is the conclusion? Ditto. Do I care? No. Not all who wander are lost . . .
Anyone, really, could have written the essay "The Summoner of the Sphinx," but only Mark Valentine could do it with such ease and panache! A documentary-style exploration of one of the most memorable magic tricks ever could fall flat quite easily, but here the event is given all the observational filigree it deserves, with some subtle nods to the kitsch, properly ensconcing the event in both its historical context and our modern notions of tomfoolery.
Continuing in the vein of the Valentinian educational program, I think I learned more about William Hope Hodgson in Valentine's essay "The Wonder Unlimited" than I have ever known before. Not biographical details, dates and such, but really about him - his sense of humor, brusqueness, and so forth. An interesting glimpse into the author's personality by way of his most obscure work.
One thing that stood out to me on reading this particular volume is the personal detail that Valentine shares about himself and his work. A very interesting and highly personal essay on "Tin Mine Gothic" provides a peek behind the curtain to see what brought Valentine to his interests (and, ultimately, his own writing). I really enjoyed this. It makes this volume absolutely and unarguably his.
"A Fashion in Shrouds" is just the sort of quirky essay I love. In it, Valentine explores the sartorial choices (or compulsions) of the (un)dead. Through ghost stories, both (supposedly) veridical and literary, Valentine traces the evolution of ghostly dress with a dry sense of humor that causes soft laughs in barely-perceptible whispers on fog-enshrouded moors.
Library ephemera (both personal and public) are the subject of the literally-titled "Stuck in a Book," a delightful examination of the sometimes strange, sometimes ironic physical bits and bobs one finds in a used book. Valentine's insight is keen, his research formidable, and his humor only a touch morbid.
"The Saracen's Head" takes an ubiquitous object - the pub sign - and traces the history of England's fascination with the motif of the Saracen's Head. It's a piece of pseudo-Foucaltian "Archaeology of Knowledge" examining the entrance of the motif into the English public imagination. This is the sort of thing doctoral theses are made of, or could be, if expanded to about 100 times its page count. Fascinating.
Lastly, we are given a fly-on-the-wall view of intrepid bookhunters Mark Valentine and John Howard (who are also two of the best living authors writing today - might I strongly, Strongly, STRONGLY recommend Howard's The Voice of the Air?) as they spend a Sunday looking for hidden treasure in the "Passages in the West". this was fascinating and appropriate at the end of one of Valentine's non-fiction collections. One sees Valentine's encyclopedic knowledge of recondite authors and works at play here, as well as a glimpse into his relationship with a fellow-book lover and the people who sell these paginated treasure chests.
The problem, of course, is that Valentine sets my wallet on fire with his discoveries and revelations. The first urge to go hunting here was spurred by the essay on Riccardo Stephens. Last time I followed Valentine's recommendation, I absolutely fell head over heels for the works of Mary Butts, whom I had never heard of before reading about her in Valentine's outstanding Haunted by Books. Tempting. Yet again, so tempting. Get thee behind me Mark Valentine!
Does this mean that I take the Valentine bait hook, line, and sinker? Well, okay, in terms of his fiction and poetry, yes. But his nonfiction, while amazing, sometimes shows holes. For example, Valentine's review of Asquith's anthology The Ghost Book is . . . nothing special, to put it bluntly. Maybe the first instance I've seen of Valentine "phoning it in," as they say. Given the source material, though, no one can blame him. Still, I was a little disappointed with the essay. I suppose that with Valentine's prolific output, one is bound to find a dud. Soon thereafter, the essay on Nephele, or at least the idea of the novel, I found intriguing, but not necessarily compelling.
Thankfully, this was just the warmup act. He soon hits his stride, as one should expect:
In his essay "Phoenician Rites and Chaldee Roots," Valentine carves a labyrinth, a sort of archaeology of an intellectual maze that meanders from Shakespeare to Machen to Homes and Watson. This is the sort of wandering intellectual exercise that I love and that Valentine excels at. What is the thesis? Um. I'm not sure there is one. What is the conclusion? Ditto. Do I care? No. Not all who wander are lost . . .
Anyone, really, could have written the essay "The Summoner of the Sphinx," but only Mark Valentine could do it with such ease and panache! A documentary-style exploration of one of the most memorable magic tricks ever could fall flat quite easily, but here the event is given all the observational filigree it deserves, with some subtle nods to the kitsch, properly ensconcing the event in both its historical context and our modern notions of tomfoolery.
Continuing in the vein of the Valentinian educational program, I think I learned more about William Hope Hodgson in Valentine's essay "The Wonder Unlimited" than I have ever known before. Not biographical details, dates and such, but really about him - his sense of humor, brusqueness, and so forth. An interesting glimpse into the author's personality by way of his most obscure work.
One thing that stood out to me on reading this particular volume is the personal detail that Valentine shares about himself and his work. A very interesting and highly personal essay on "Tin Mine Gothic" provides a peek behind the curtain to see what brought Valentine to his interests (and, ultimately, his own writing). I really enjoyed this. It makes this volume absolutely and unarguably his.
"A Fashion in Shrouds" is just the sort of quirky essay I love. In it, Valentine explores the sartorial choices (or compulsions) of the (un)dead. Through ghost stories, both (supposedly) veridical and literary, Valentine traces the evolution of ghostly dress with a dry sense of humor that causes soft laughs in barely-perceptible whispers on fog-enshrouded moors.
Library ephemera (both personal and public) are the subject of the literally-titled "Stuck in a Book," a delightful examination of the sometimes strange, sometimes ironic physical bits and bobs one finds in a used book. Valentine's insight is keen, his research formidable, and his humor only a touch morbid.
"The Saracen's Head" takes an ubiquitous object - the pub sign - and traces the history of England's fascination with the motif of the Saracen's Head. It's a piece of pseudo-Foucaltian "Archaeology of Knowledge" examining the entrance of the motif into the English public imagination. This is the sort of thing doctoral theses are made of, or could be, if expanded to about 100 times its page count. Fascinating.
Lastly, we are given a fly-on-the-wall view of intrepid bookhunters Mark Valentine and John Howard (who are also two of the best living authors writing today - might I strongly, Strongly, STRONGLY recommend Howard's The Voice of the Air?) as they spend a Sunday looking for hidden treasure in the "Passages in the West". this was fascinating and appropriate at the end of one of Valentine's non-fiction collections. One sees Valentine's encyclopedic knowledge of recondite authors and works at play here, as well as a glimpse into his relationship with a fellow-book lover and the people who sell these paginated treasure chests.
June 18, 2022
Excellent collection detailing facts about hunts for rare and unusual authors and their books. Suspenseful and inspiring.
May 18, 2021
As always, Valentine's enthusiasm is contagious.
March 22, 2023
So good that I’m suddenly struck by a sadness that I’ve completed the Mark Valentine books-on-books circuit.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews