Townsend of Lichfield

I just noticed that a copy of one of the scarcest Cabell titles has been posted for sale on ABE -- Townsend of Lichfield, the final volume of the Storisende edition of Cabell's works. It's not essential if you're just interested in reading the key novels but it does gather some of the scarcer small items as well as containing some of JBC's ruminations not available elsewhere. And if you're putting together a motley Storisende, this is probably the hardest volume to find; or if you have 17 of 18 this is probably the one you're missing. $50 for an ex-library copy, but if it wasn't ex-library it would probably be $75 or more...

I'm not in an acquisitive way right now, but thanks for the tip.

I own this book, and am happy to possess a copy in green. And, furthermore, I just finished reading it. For those who read my reviews, my thoughts can be found on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1878666230

I will place these bookchat remarks here on LibraryThing the very next thing I do.

But, before I leave this “rabble,” I have a question: Townsend of Lichfield sports an “XVIII” on the spine, thus making it the 18th of the Storisende edition. And I read that it is the final volume. But inside the book — and elsewhere, as written by every knowledgable person — the Biography of the Life of Manuel is said to be a 20-volume work.

There are two missing volumes, no? What gives?

I am as puzzled by this as I was about all the prefatory folderol to the first books of Cabell’s I read, what with all the fictional reference to Saevius Nicanor and Bülg et al.

I am sure the answer is simple, and I will perform the requisite face-palm upon learning the secret.

But right now the certitude of my suspicion does me no good.

I'm a bit puzzled by your "lack of recommendation" in that bookchat. Do you mean simply that given opportunity for owning all the contents of Townsend of Lichfield but in other editions, you can't recommend it? I suppose it's rarity might have prompted that statement. I don't yet own all of Cabell, so whenever I find anything I don't yet own, and which is priced affordably for me (and my means are pretty meagre), I tend to make the purchase.

The Silver Stallion lists the 18 volumes of the Biography, with a note on the phantom 19th.

The Storisende edition (more properly The Works of James Branch Cabell, 1927-1930) was originally planned to have 19 volumes, and this can be seen on dust jackets and other publicity even after its initial volumes were published. But according to Cabell in one of the ToL essays he spent so much time revising the other works that he ran out of time to finish the planned dizain of tales that would have made up The Witch-Woman, and to finish the novel to be called Townsend of Lichfield (which was to revisit the protagonist of The Cords of Vanity -- Robert Etheridge Townsend -- 20 years later). In the event the Townsend title was used for a loose-ends mop-up volume and the few finished Witch-woman stories were scattered among other volumes, Music from Behind the Moon with Domnei and White Robe and Ecben in that very Townsend volume. (Though it must be pointed out that MfBtM was coupled with Domnei (Works Vol. 4) in early 1928 when a separate Witch-Woman volume was still intended, so it appears that MfBtM wasnot originally intended for the WW dizain; of course it was coupled {tripled?} with Ecben and Robe in 1948's WW volume, which was then retro-inserted between Silver Stallion and Domnei in the 'official' Biography sequence. This made the Storisende volume numbers no longer match the Biography numbers -- for instance Jurgen is Vol VI in the Storisende but #7 in the Biography.)

I think that the '20' works we sometime see in accounts of the Biography might refer to the additional short works that are accorded spine/title page status: MfBtM with Domnei, Jewel Merchants with Hidden Way, and Lineage with Cream. but wait, that makes 21! Augh!

As far as I know all copies of Townsend of Lichfield are green.

ETA - Straws and Prayer-books originally was to be the 19th and final volume of the Works (mirroring Beyond Life), while Townsend and Witch-women were to be 17 and 18 (or was it 18 and 17?). When WW got dropped and ToL was transformed, Straws was slid forward and ToL placed at the end (#18).

Wasn’t there a special red edition of the books? A governor’s edition set? Or something? I think I have seen a picture on Abebooks.com.

I like the volume, but it is for completists, those who must read Everything Cabell. I recommend The Witch-Woman of 1948 over this volume ... except for that one short story, “Concerning Dacid Jogram.” So.... I am torn, as they say.

>6 wirkman:

Yes, there were attractive red re-bindings of left-over sheets from the Storisende issued in 1932. However not all volumes were treated that way, and Townsend wasn't one of them.
See http://www.silverstallion.karkeeweb.com/bibliography/xyz/storisende/red_storisen... . These re-binds retained the signed introductions but were fitted with new title pages and lacked some of the preliminaries.

I suspect the Red Storisendes may have been inspired by the special re-binding, earlier in 1932, of some copies of the Storisende Rivet in Grandfather's Neck for the 'Governor's Edition' of that title: http://www.silverstallion.karkeeweb.com/bibliography/manuel/rivet/riv_d2.html

>6 wirkman: >8 Crypto-Willobie:

Speaking of the 'Red Storisende' bindings, here are 6 of the 9 just gone up for bid on eBay.
A bit worn, and no jackets, but still...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-6-all-SIGNED-James-Branch-Cabell-Books-All-1932-...