The House of Lost Identity

The House of Lost Identity is a collection of short stories by Donald Corley, illustrated by the author. Corley did not limit himself to one genre, but the primary distinction of the collection is its inclusion of a number of classic dark fantasies . It was first published in hardcover in New York by Robert M. McBride in May 1927,[1] and had a number of reprintings; printings after the first include an introduction by James Branch Cabell. It was reissued in hardcover by Books for Libraries in 1971, and in hardcover and paperback by Wildside Press in February 2008.[1] The first British edition was published by George G. Harrap and Co. in 1927.[1] The book's importance in the history of fantasy literature was also recognized by the anthologization of two of its tales by Lin Carter in the 1970s; "The Song of the Tombelaine," in Discoveries in Fantasy (1972), for the celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series, and "Figs" (under the alternate title of "The Book of Lullûme") in Realms of Wizardry (1976).

The House of Lost Identity
Cover of the first edition
AuthorDonald Corley
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreShort story collection
PublisherRobert M. McBride
Publication date
1927
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages325 pp.
Followed byThe Fifth Son of the Shoemaker 

The collection was named after its initial story, "The House of Lost Identity."

Contents
  • "The House of Lost Identity"
  • "The Price of Reflection"
  • "The Daimyō's Bowl"
  • "Figs"
  • "The Manacles of Youth"
  • "The Ghost-Wedding"
  • "The Glass Eye of Throgmorton"
  • "The Legend of the Little Horses"
  • "The Tale That the Ming Bell Told"
  • "The Book of the Debts"
  • "The Song of the Tombelaine"

Reception

Lin Carter describes Corley's style as possessing a quality of "gorgeousness", which he characterizes as having "the sort of verbal richness that bejewels the pages of Clark Ashton Smith's work or the Arabian Nights ... lazy and singing, [with] a certain playfulness to it ..."[2]

Notes
  1. The House of Lost Identity title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  2. Carter, Lin, ed. Discoveries in Fantasy, New York, Ballantine Books, 1972, pp. 101–103.


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