Description
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers – 1895 1st edition. Neely’s Prismatic Library: Chicago and New York: F. Tennyson Neely (1895). 316 pps + 1 page ad at rear.
The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by the American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. The book is named after a play with the same title which recurs as a motif through some of the stories. The first half of the book features highly esteemed horror stories, and the book has been described by critics such as E. F. Bleiler, S. T. Joshi and T. E. D. Klein as a classic in the field of the supernatural.[ There are ten stories, the first four of which (“The Repairer of Reputations”, “The Mask”, “In the Court of the Dragon”, and “The Yellow Sign”) mention The King in Yellow, a forbidden play which induces despair or madness in those who read it. “The Yellow Sign” inspired a film of the same name released in 2001.
1) Signed by the publisher F. Tennyson Neely, inscribed “Most cordially yours”. His initials are on the cover of all the first editions. I have not found any copies online signed by F. Tennyson Neely, and believe it to be a rare copy.
Please see the photos.
