Elst Violet (9 results)

Early polemic by longtime crusader against the death penalty. Scarce in jacket. Inscribed by author on inside front cover: "To Mr. Howe, I hope he will read my book and many others." Pages clean and binding tight, DJ chipped at edges, fair condition only.

First edition. 12mo. 287 pp. Frontispiece portrait. Illustrations. Cloth binding, white lettering, no jacket, good condition. (74985).

Hardcover. Condition: Poor. Publisher - The Doge Press, London, 1937. 1st ed. Poor condition, boards marked, stained and warped, front pastedown partly torn off, rear board and endpapers nearly detached, marked and stained, rear endpapers nearly torn off board. Jacket front panel, front flap and part of spine tipped in, these have chips and tears. Old insect damage to a few pages. Otherwise the textblock is good, with good binding and all the plates present. The frontispiece unsigned, but with the author's inscription on the front free endpaper, "Yours very 'sincerely?] Violet Van der Elst". A polemic against capital punishment.

Soft cover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. 79 pages, no markings, date not stated circa 1930's.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 2nd Edition. June 1939, 2nd edition. Octavo. 288pp plus advert leaf. Illustrated. Publisher's cloth, a little spotted and marked. In the printed dust wrapper, some minor edge wear and creasing. Contents in good clean order. Overall a 'Very Good' copy. Uncommon 2nd edition. An eccentric critique of capital punishment in Britain.

Hardcover. First edition (& 1st printing). ''First published September, 1937'' on copyright page. Collects thirteen stories, of which at least four, ''The Coming Of Death'', ''The Immortal Soul'', ''The Haunted House'', and ''How A Secret Power Saved My Life'' have fantasy/supernatural content. Two others, the title story and ''The Christian Martyrs'', are extremely gruesome - and the last story in the book ''Snow!'' is about the perils of cocaine abuse. But then again there is ''How Young Lives Are Ruined In Mayfair's Gambling Halls'', and ''Don't Be Silly, George!''. A rare title and never reprinted. Page edges browned, light spotting to first and last couple of pages, a VG+copy (lacking the dustjacket).

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Spine slightly rubbed at foot, corner of lower cover slightly stained, free endpapers partially embrowned, text pages embrowning from edges; dustwrapper darkened and slightly frayed at spine, a little dusty and rubbed at edges (apparently a late-issue dustwrapper, quoting numerous press reviews). The frontispiece unsigned, but with the author's inscription on the front free endpaper, "To Mr J Grist from Mrs Violet Van der Elst". A polemic against capital punishment: "I feel sure that the day will soon come when we will see the Sun of human sympathy and understanding shine in those dark places of this world's laws: laws which, carried over from barbaric and primitive ages, have no place amongst civilised peoples." Van der Elst's book is humane but, in certain respects, deeply eccentric. "Murders are generally committed by very poor people," she writes, "for it is they who are the victims of evil environment and disease. One never or seldom hears of a rich man being prosecuted for murder. If he is ill mentally or physically, or if he has some nervous disease, his doctor can look after him and make him well. But this is not the case with the poor man; he must often bear his illness until it overthrows his self-control and he becomes mentally unbalanced. The rich man has all he desires when he is ill; money acts like a magician. It may not always bring happiness. but it can buy most things." The frontispiece shows a woman who could buy most things. Violet Van der Elst (née Violet Anne Dodge, 1882-1966), author, composer, artist, campaigner, a formidably solid figure in jewels and furs, leans her arm languidly on an opulent escritoire, her eyes firmly on the camera. From humble origins, she had achieved great wealth, running her own cosmetic business and inventing Shavex cream, "The Miraculous Quick Shave WITH NO SOAP OR BRUSH". This book, like The Torture Chamber and Other Stories, which appeared three months earlier, is self-published: plain-spoken, a mixture of memoir (reminiscences of demonstrations she has mounted down the years, of court cases she has witnessed, murderers seen), anecdote (of motivations and executions) and argument, always argument. Photographs of crowds and criminals are alternated with pictures of herself (now in a studio, now resting on the running board of her Rolls-Royce, now being arrested by the police) and views of the grand country pile, Grantham Castle (aka Harlaxton Manor), "home of Mrs. Van der Elst", where the book was written. Over three pages she lists opponents to the death sentence, starting with Christ. Her reasoning is sensible (she understands, for example, the effects of what is now called PTSD) and she is never unafraid of statistics. She concludes with the reflection that if there were a universal language there would be no wars, and an exhortation: "The English race is said to be better than others because it is a mixture. Then let the whole world mix, and let us all be one nation, one race." Her dustwrapper flaps are thick with press reviews. "Mrs. Van der Elst, in writing to the Bishops to support her in her Campaign against the Death Sentence, wrote twenty letters to the Bishops and Archbishops. In 'On the Gallows' she prints their replies. The Archbishop of York was the only one who was on her side" (Daily Herald). "Every page, almost, is a thriller. There are many interesting photographs" (World's Press News). Inscribed by Author(s).

The Doge Press. 1937. 8° Original cloth with original dust jacket. Violet van der Elst (1882-1966) was born Violet Dodge, in Surrey, England. - She married the Belgian painter Jean Van der Elst. She gained publicity from her vocal campaigns against capital punishment, and stodd three times, unseccessfully, as a Labour party candidate to be an M.P. - She died in 1966, penniless and largely forgotten, in the year after capital punishment for murder was abolished in Britain. In the 2005 film 'Pierrepoint' she is played by Ann Bell. - Wrappers a little marked. Otherwise a very good copy with the scarce dust jacket. Sprache: Englisch. *** Bitte kontaktieren Sie uns immer BEVOR Sie bestellen! Für ausführliche Beschreibungen und Bilder sowie günstigere Versandoptionen kontaktieren Sie mich bitte per Email! Please contact us always BEFORE you order! For detailled descriptions and photos as well as cheaper shipping options please send an email! ***.