It has occasionally been difficult to establish definitely whether serializations and appearances in book form were before or after the publication of a main collection (e.g. Lispet, Lispett and Vaine (1923) and some of the stories in Br (1925)), and in such cases they have been listed under (a), even if some of them were a month or two later. They have also been assumed to be earlier in the footnotes to the stories for the sake of convenience. Except where there are indications to the contrary, all the books mentioned were published in London. Finally, where texts other than those in the eight main collections have been used in Short Stories, they have been asterisked (*). For abbreviations, see page ix.
Story and Rhyme (1921)
A selection of his writings de la Mare made for schools and colleges. It included ‘The Almond Tree’ and ‘The Riddle’ that were collected in R (1923).
Lispet, Lispett and Vaine (1923)
Published by itself in a limited edition of 200 signed copies, with wood-engravings by W.P. Robins. The story was collected in R (1923) and later included in CT (1950).
The Riddle and Other Stories (R) (1923)
De la Mare’s first volume of short stories, published in May 1923. It contained fifteen stories:
‘The Almond Tree’ (originally written in or before 1899)
(a) English Review, August 1909
Story and Rhyme (1921)
(b) SEP (1938)
BS (1942)*
The Almond Tree (1943)
CT (1950)
‘The Count’s Courtship’ (originally written in or before 1899)
(a) Lady’s Realm, July 1907
‘The Looking-Glass’
‘Miss Duveen’ (originally written in or before 1907)
(b) SSS (1931)
SEP (1938)
The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)
BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
‘Selina’s Parable’
(a) New Statesman, 1 November 1919
Living Age, 6 December 1919
(b) The Nap and Other Stories (1936)*
‘Seaton’s Aunt’ (originally written in or before 1909)
(a) London Mercury, April 1922
(b) Seaton’s Aunt (1927)
BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
‘The Bird of Travel’
(a) Lady’s Realm, October 1908
(b) SSS (1931)
‘The Bowl’ (originally written in or before 1904)
(b) The Nap and Other Stories (1936)*
CT (1950)
‘The Three Friends’
(a) Saturday Westminster Gazette, 19 April 1913
(b) SEP (1938)
The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)*
CT (1950)
‘Lispet, Lispett and Vaine’
(a) Yale Review, January 1923
Bookman’s Journal, February 1923
Lispet, Lispett and Vaine (1923)
(b) CT (1950)
‘The Tree’
(a) Century, August 1922
London Mercury, October 1922
(b) SSS (1931)
CT (1950)
‘Out of the Deep’
(b) GS (1956)
‘The Creatures’
(a) London Mercury, January 1920
(b) CT (1950)
‘The Riddle’ (originally written in or before 1898)
(a) Monthly Review, February 1903
Story and Rhyme (1921)
(b) SEP (1938)
The Magic Jacket and Other Stories (1943)
CSC (1947)*
CT (1950)
‘The Vats’
(a) Saturday Westminster Gazette, 16 June 1917
(b) BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
Ding Dong Bell (DDB) (1924, 1936)
The original edition, published in April 1924, consisted of three short stories written round groups of epitaphs. It had a wood-engraving by Reynolds Stone. A fourth story was added in the 1936 edition. (See also ‘De Mortuis’ in Short Stories 1895–1926, which has epitaphs in common with ‘Lichen’ and ‘Winter’.)
‘Lichen’
(a) Lady’s Realm, September 1907
(b) SEP (1938)*
‘“Benighted”’
(a) Pall Mall Magazine, July-December 1906
‘Strangers and Pilgrims’ (1936)
(a) Yale Review, March 1936
(b) CT (1950)
‘Winter’
Miss Jemima (1925)
Published by itself at Oxford, with illustrations by Alec Buckels. The story was collected in Br (1925), and later included in The Magic Jacket and Other Stories (1943) and CSC (1947).
Broomsticks and Other Tales (Br) (1925)
The first volume of short stories for children, with designs by Bold, the second being LF (1933). It had twelve stories, of which three were omitted from CSC (1947): ‘Pigtails, Ltd.’, ‘The Thief’ and ‘A Nose’.
‘Pigtails, Ltd.’
(a) Atlantic Monthly, August 1925
‘The Dutch Cheese’
(a) Lady’s Realm, May 1908
(b) The Dutch Cheese (New York, 1931)
The Dutch Cheese and Other Stories (1946)
CSC (1947)*
SSV (1952)
‘Miss Jemima’
(a) Number One Joy Street (Oxford, 1923)
Miss Jemima (Oxford, 1925)
(b) The Magic Jacket and Other Stories (1943)
CSC (1947)*
‘The Thief’
(a) G.K.’s Weekly, 21 March and 4 April 1925
‘Broomsticks’
(a) London Mercury, October 1925
Yale Review, October 1925
(b) The Scarecrow and Other Stories (1945)
CSC (1947)*
‘Lucy’
(a) Number Two Joy Street (Oxford, 1924)
(b) Lucy (Oxford, 1927)
The Dutch Cheese and Other Stories (1946)
CSC (1947)*
‘A Nose’
‘The Three Sleeping Boys of Warwickshire’
(a) Virginia Quarterly Review, October 1925
(b) The Dutch Cheese and Other Stories (1946)
CSC (1947)*
SSV (1952)
‘The Lovely Myfanwy’
(b) The Dutch Cheese (New York, 1931)
The Scarecrow and Other Stories (1945)
CSC (1947)*
‘Alice’s Godmother’
(b) The Dutch Cheese and Other Stories (1946)
CSC (1947)*
‘Maria-Fly’
(a) G.K.’s Weekly, 19 and 26 September 1925
(b) SSS (1931)
The Nap and Other Stories (1936)
The Old Lion and Other Stories (1942)
CSC (1947)*
‘Visitors’
(a) Forum, October 1925
(b) The Scarecrow and Other Stories (1945)
CSC (1947)*
Two Tales (1925)
This was published in July 1925 in a limited edition of 250 signed copies, and had the first printed versions of ‘The Connoisseur’ (C (1926)) (full version) and ‘The Green Room’ (OE (1930)). See C (1926) and OE (1930) below.
The Connoisseur and Other Stories (C) (1926)
Contained nine short stories, and was published in May 1926. Two sections of ‘The Connoisseur’, the title story, called ‘The Seven Valleys’ and ‘En Route’ that had appeared in Two Tales (1925) were omitted in C (1926). They were restored in CT (1950), probably with de la Mare’s approval, and they have been retained in this volume.
‘Mr Kempe’
(a) London Mercury, November 1925
Harper’s Magazine, November 1925
‘Missing’
(b) SSS (1931)
SEP (1938)
BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
‘The Connoisseur’ (without ‘The Seven Valleys’ and ‘En Route’)
(a) Two Tales (July 1925) (full version)
Yale Review, July 1925 (full version)
(b) CT (1950) (full version
)
‘Disillusioned’
‘The Nap’
(b) SSS (1931)
The Nap and Other Stories (1936)
The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)
BS (1941)*
CT (1950)
‘Pretty Poll’
(a) London Mercury, April 1925
‘All Hallows’
(b) The Nap and Other Stories (1936)
BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
‘The Wharf’
(a) The Queen, November 1924
(b) SSS (1931)
The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)*
CT (1950)
‘The Lost Track’
Seaton’s Aunt (1927)
Reprinted by itself from R (1923) with wood-engravings by Blair Hughes-Stanton. It was also included in BS (1942) and CT (1950).
Lucy (1927)
Reprinted by itself from Br (1925) at Oxford, with illustrations by Hilda T. Miller.
It was also included in The Dutch Cheese and Other Stories (1946) and CSC (1947).
Old Joe (1927)
At different times, this story had no less than four different titles. After appearing in Number Three Joy Street (Oxford, 1925) and being printed by itself at Oxford in 1927, with illustrations by C.T. Nightingale, as ‘Old Joe’, it was included in LF (1933) as ‘Hodmadod’. In The Scarecrow and Other Stories (1945) it became ‘The Scarecrow or Hodmadod’, and in CSC (1947) ‘The Scarecrow’.
At First Sight (1928)
One of de la Mare’s longest short stories, it was published by itself in New York in 1928 (in a limited edition of 650 signed copies) before being collected in OE (1930). The 1928 version had the sub-title ‘A Novel’. The story appeared again in SEP (1938).
On the Edge: Short Stories (OE) (1930)
It contained eight short stories (with wood-engravings by Elizabeth Rivers), one of which had been serialized in 1905 (‘An Ideal Craftsman’); and it came out in September 1930.
‘A Recluse’
(a) The Ghost Book, ed. Cynthia Asquith (1926)
‘Willows’
(a) Blackwood’s Magazine, September 1929
Virginia Quarterly Review, October 1929
(b) CT (1950)
‘Crewe’
(a) London Mercury, July 1929
Shudders, ed. Cynthia Asquith (1929)
(where it was called ‘Crewe Train’)
(b) BS (1942)*
‘At First Sight’
(a) Forum, June-September 1927
At First Sight: A Novel (New York, 1928)
(b) SEP (1938)*
‘The Green Room’
(a) Two Tales (July 1925)
Bookman’s Journal, September 1925 (where it was called ‘The Green Room: A Bookshop Story’)
(b) SEP (1938)*
GS (1956)
‘The Orgy: An Idyll’ (for Part II of the story, see Unpublished Stories in Short Stories 1927–1956.
(a) Blackwood’s Magazine, June 1930 (where it was called ‘The Orgy’)
Yale Review, June 1930 (where it was called ‘The Orgy’)
(b) SEP (1938)
BS (1942)*
The Orgy (1943)
CT (1950)
‘The Picnic’
(a) Criterion, April 1930
Virginia Quarterly Review, April 1930
(b) The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)
BS (1942)*
‘An Ideal Craftsman’ (originally written in or before 1900; and, according to de la Mare’s introduction to OE (1930), it ‘has not merely, like the rest, been revised, but has been twice re-written: once by myself and once by my old friend Mr Forrest Reid, who also went over it again in proof’)
(a) Monthly Review, June 1905
(b) The Nap and Other Stories (1936)
BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
Seven Short Stories (SSS) (1931)
A selection of seven stories published in collections that was illustrated by John Nash. They were ‘Miss Duveen’, ‘The Bird of Travel’ and ‘The Tree’ from R (1923), ‘Maria-Fly’ from Br (1925), and ‘Missing’, ‘The Nap’ and ‘The Wharf’ from C (1926).
The Dutch Cheese (1931)
Published in New York, this contained two children’s stories from Br (1925), ‘The Dutch Cheese’ and ‘The Lovely Myfanwy’, together with illustrations by Dorothy P. Lathrop. It should not be confused with The Dutch Cheese and Other Stories (1946).
The Lord Fish (LF) (1933)
De la Mare’s second volume of short stories for children. It was illustrated by Rex Whistler, and contained seven stories. In a note at the end, de la Mare wrote as follows: ‘Four of the stories included in this volume appeared in print for the first time some years ago in Joy Street, but they have been revised – titles and all. “Dick and the Beanstalk”, “The Old Lion” and “Sambo and the Snow Mountains” are new.’
‘The Lord Fish’
(a) Number Four Joy Street (Oxford, 1926)
(where it was called ‘John Cobbler’)
(b) Animal Stories (1939)
The Old Lion and Other Stories (1942)
CSC (1947)*
‘A Penny a Day’
(a) Number Five Joy Street (Oxford, 1927)
(where it was called ‘Wages’)
(b) The Dutch Cheese and Other Stories (1946)
CSC (1947)*
SSV (1952)
‘The Magic Jacket’ (in LF (1933) and SSV (1952) it was called ‘The Jacket’)
(a) Number Six Joy Street (Oxford, 1928)
(b) The Magic Jacket and Other Stories (1943)
CSC (1947)*
SSV (1952)
‘Dick and the Beanstalk’
(b) The Magic Jacket and Other Stories (1943)
CSC (1947)*
SSV (1952)
‘The Scarecrow’ (in LF (1933) it was called ‘Hodmadod’)
(a) Number Three Joy Street (Oxford, 1925)
(where it was called ‘Old Joe’)
Old Joe (Oxford, 1927)
(b) The Scarecrow and Other Stories (1945)
(where it was called ‘The Scarecrow or Hodmadod’)
CSC (1947) (where it was called ‘The Scarecrow’)*
‘The Old Lion’
(b) The Old Lion and Other Stories (1942)
Mr Bumps and His Monkey (Philadelphia, 1942) (the story was given this title here)
CSC (1947)*
SSV (1952)
‘Sambo and the Snow Mountains’
(b) SEP (1938)
The Old Lion and Other Stories (1942)
CSC (1947)*
A Froward Child (1934)
The story that was collected in WBO (1936) was published separately in 1934.
The Wind Blows Over (WBO) (1936)
Contained eleven short stories (with an illustration by Barnett Freedman), of which two, ‘In the Forest’ and ‘The Talisman’, had been serialized in 1904 and 1907 respectively. In a note at the beginning of the book, de la Mare states that ‘both have been revised’. WBO appeared in October 1936.
‘“What Dreams May Come”’
(a) John O’London’s Weekly, 1 December 1934
(b) BS (1942)*
‘Cape Race’
(a) Yale Review, September 1929
(b) The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)*
CT (1950)
‘Physic’
(a) Nash’s Magazine, June 1936
Harper’s Magazine, August 1936
(b) The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)
BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
‘The Talisman’
(a) Lady’s Realm, March 1907 (where it was called ‘The Talisman of Weisshausen’)
(b) CT (1950)
‘In the Forest’
(a) Black and White, 27 August 1904
(b) SEP (1938)*
‘“A Froward Child”’
(a) Times Weekly Edition, 10 November 1932
A Froward Child (1934)
‘Mis
s Miller’
(a) Story-teller, August 1930
(b) The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)
BS (1942)*
‘The House’
(a) Observer, 25 December 1932
(b) BS (1942)*
GS (1956)
‘A Revenant’
(b) SEP (1938)*
GS (1956)
‘“A Nest of Singing-Birds’”
(a) Yale Review, December 1933 (where it was called ‘Parleyings’)
Lovat Dickson’s Magazine, January 1934
(where it was also called ‘Parleyings’)
(b) SEP (1938)*
‘The Trumpet’
(a) Virginia Quarterly Review, October 1936
(b) BS (1942)*
CT (1950)
The Nap and Other Stories (1936)
A selection of six stories published in collections that was done for the Nelson Classics. They were ‘Selina’s Parable’ and ‘The Bowl’ from R (1923), ‘Maria-Fly’ from Br (1925), ‘The Nap’ and ‘All Hallows’ from C (1926), and ‘An Ideal Craftsman’ from OE (1930).
Stories, Essays and Poems (SEP) (1938)
Thirteen short stories were included in this selection of his writings that Mildred Bozman prepared in close collaboration with the author for Everyman’s Library. They had all been published in collections, and were as follows: ‘The Almond Tree’, ‘Miss Duveen’, ‘The Three Friends’ and ‘The Riddle’ from R (1923), ‘Lichen’ from DDB (1924), ‘Missing’ from C (1926), ‘At First Sight’, ‘The Green Room’ and ‘The Orgy: An Idyll’ from OE (1930), ‘Sambo and the Snow Mountains’ from LF (1933), and ‘In the Forest’, ‘A Revenant’ and ‘“A Nest of Singing-Birds’” from WBO (1936). There was an introduction by the author. See also the Introduction on page viii.
Animal Stories (1939)
A volume of stories about animals for children, with woodcuts from Edward Topsell’s Historie of Foure-footed Beastes (1658). One story, ‘The Lord Fish’ from LF (1933), was by de la Mare. The rest he had collected together, re-writing some of them.
The Picnic and Other Stories (1941)
A selection of eight stories already published in collections. They were ‘Miss Duveen’ and ‘The Three Friends’ from R (1923), ‘The Nap’ and ‘The Wharf’ from C (192,6), ‘The Picnic’ from OE (1930), and ‘Cape Race’, ‘Physic’ and ‘Miss Miller’ from WBO (1936).
Short Stories for Children Page 51