Edgar Allan Poe - Tales of Mystery and Imagination - An Unpublished Edition - The Richards Press, n.d. [c1938].

London, The Richards Press, n.d. c[1938]. Hardback. Near fine condition. An odd edition of Poe's famous collection. A note to the front pastedown explains the book best "This book was never published. The Richards Press handed this copy to John Austen who agreed to illustrate the work with linocuts to fit the spaces, the type having been set up to suit the projected illustrations by Carlo Farneti, (the project of his illustrating the book not, for some reason, materializing.) Then came the war of 1939, so that John Austen never illustrated it either. This may be the only copy, and it was given me by John Austen at Rose Cottage on May 1st. 1946. G.O. Mitchell" The book bears Mitchell's plate to the front endpaper. Everything seems to fit. It's clearly a mock-up with a hand-written page etc. The limitation page notes 500 copies to be printed at the Alcuin Press. The illustrations are cut from the French Farneti edition (bearing the French text on the reverse). The text is clearly set to match the illustrations and is done to a high standard. A little foxed and the and the unadorned binding is bumped and softened. Presented in a cloth box. [8906, Hyraxia Books].