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Ghosts and Family Legends

Catherine Crowe

First published 1859
Type Collection

    From the 1859 edition (viewed as a Google Books scan):
  • The title page byline credits 'Mrs. Crowe, authoress of "Night Side of Nature," &c.'; the preface closes 'Catherine Crowe.' and '15th October, 1858.'
  • The Preface presents the frame narrative as nonfiction. Within that frame every story is printed in quotation marks, with its dialogue in two sets of quotation marks.
  • The second paragraph of the frame narrative: "After some discussion on the existence of ghosts and cognate subjects, it was agreed that each should relate a story, restricting himself to circumstances that had either happened to himself or had been told him by somebody fully entitled to confidence, who had undergone the experience." Throughout the frame narrative Crowe identifies participants by title and initial such as Mr. R., Miss P., Captain S., Madame Von B.
  • The first part of the book, "Round the Fire", is framed as ghost stories told by members of a house party. It is divided into eight "evenings". Various stories told on each evening are given titles in the Contents listing for that evening, which don't appear in the text itself. (Those informal story titles are listed in the 1859 publication record.)
  • "Round the Fire" is followed by an "Appendix" containing purported correspondence: letters sent to Crowe, which narrate further ghostly experiences. She states that she is reprinting them verbatim, but has reduced the authors' names to initials.
  • The second part of the book, "Legends of the Earthbound", purports to be family legends told by members of the same house party.

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1859 Cover Ghosts and Family Legends: A Volume for Christmas T. C. Newby Collection
2005 Cover Ghosts and Family Legends Sarob Press Collection
April 2012 Ghosts and Family Legends: A Volume for Christmas Project Gutenberg Collection
November 2012 Cover Ghosts and Family Legends: A Volume for Christmas. CreateSpace Collection
December 2012 Cover Ghosts and Family Legends CreateSpace Collection