VICARS' WALK

Horace Annesley Vachell

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1933

About this Item

This copy is bound in blue cloth covered boardsThe spine is sunned and the titling is all but gone as has the paper panel it was printed on. The text block is bright, white, tight and square. A dust wrapper is not present. Horace Annesley Vachell (1861-1955) was a prolific English writer of novels, plays, short stories, essays and autobiographical works. Born in Sydenham, Kent on 30 October 1861, he was educated at Harrow and Sandhurst. After a short period in the Rifle Brigade, he went to California where he became partner in a land company and married Lydie Phillips, his partner's daughter. His wife died in 1895 after the birth of their second child. He is said to have introduced the game of polo to Southern California. After 17 years abroad, by 1900 Vachell was back in England and went on to write over 50 volumes of fiction including a popular school story, The Hill (1905), which gives an idealised view of life at Harrow and of the friendship between two boys. He also wrote 14 plays, the most successful of which in his lifetime was Quinneys (1914), made into a film in 1919 and again in 1927. 'Quinneys' was first published as a book by John Murray, London in 1914. It was "a book of friends; of quaint human characters against the background of a shop for faked antiques and genuine love." Another play, The Case of Lady Camber (1915), was the basis for the film Lord Camber's Ladies (1932), produced by Alfred Hitchcock but not directed by him. It was later adapted again as The Story of Shirley Yorke. Vachell's last autobiographical book, More from Methuselah (1951), was published in the year of his 90th birthday. This novel uses as its setting Vicars? Close, adjoining Wells Cathedral, it is believed to be the only complete medieval street left in England. This significant landmark was designed to provide communal accommodation for the Vicars Choral, who sang daily worship within the Cathedral. This centuries-old tradition continues today and is a unique and much valued part of life at Wells Cathedral. Ref TT2.

Seller Inventory # 016052

Bibliographic Details

• Title: VICARS' WALK
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, London
• Publication Date: 1933
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)