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The Book

Margaret Irwin

First published September 1930
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

Synopsis

An unremarkable middle-aged lawyer begins to translate an odd Latin book he discovered on his bookshelf. As he progresses with the book his perception begins to change and his professional success to grow.

Notes

First published in The London Mercury in September 1930 and later collected in Irwin's Madame Fears the Dark (Chatto & Windus, 1935) It is unclear whether or not the 1930 text differs from the 1935 text.

Publications (78)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
September 1930 The London Mercury, September 1930 MAGAZINE
1934 The Evening Standard Book of Strange Stories Hutchinson Anthology 41
September 1934 Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror, Third Series Gollancz Anthology
1935 Madame Fears the Dark: Seven Stories and a Play Chatto & Windus Collection 3
1935 The Third Omnibus of Crime Coward-McCann Anthology 599
1936 Uncanny Stories Thomas Nelson & Sons Anthology
June 1936 Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror, Third Series Gollancz Anthology
1942 The Third Omnibus of Crime Coward-McCann Anthology 599
1946 Bar the Doors: Terror Stories Dell Anthology 175
September 1947 Argosy, September 1947 The Amalgamated Press MAGAZINE 49
1949 Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror, Third Series Gollancz Anthology
December 1951 Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1951 Popular Publications, Inc. MAGAZINE 80
December 1951 Famous Fantastic Mysteries, December 1951 Popular Publications, Inc.; Toronto, Canada MAGAZINE 80
1953 Tales to Be Told in the Dark: A Selection of Stories from the Great Authors, Arranged for Reading and Telling Aloud Dodd, Mead & Co. Anthology 150
1953 Bloodstock and Other Stories Chatto & Windus Collection |1
1953 Tales to Be Told in the Dark Faber and Faber Anthology 111
1954 Bloodstock and Other Stories Harcourt, Brace & Company Collection 95
1960 Horror Stories from Tales to Be Told in the Dark Ballantine Books Anthology 82
February 1961 In the Dead of Night Anthony Gibbs & Phillips Anthology 167
August 1961 In the Dead of Night The Canterbury Press Anthology 167
January 1962 Bar the Doors Dell Anthology 173
April 1962 In the Dead of Night Panther Anthology 135
February 1963 Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Bar the Doors Dell Anthology 173
June 1963 In the Dead of Night Panther Anthology 135
1964 Tales to Be Told in the Dark: A Selection of Stories from the Great Authors, Arranged for Reading and Telling Aloud Dodd, Mead & Co. Anthology 150
January 1965 Horror Stories from Tales to Be Told in the Dark Ballantine Bal-Hi Anthology 82
January 1966 Bar the Doors Dell Anthology 173
1967 The Second Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories Fontana Anthology 35
May 1967 Black Magic: 13 Chilling Tales Dell Anthology 110
May 1967 Tales to Be Told in the Dark Faber and Faber Anthology 111
1968 More Tales to Tremble By Whitman Publishing Company Anthology 188
1968 In the Dead of Night Panther Anthology
December 1968 Black Magic: 13 Chilling Tales Dell Anthology 110
1969 The 2nd Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories Fontana Anthology 35
January 1969 Horror Stories from Tales to Be Told in the Dark Ballantine Bal-Hi Anthology 82
March 1969 Black Magic: 13 Chilling Tales Dell Anthology 110
August 1969 The Satanists Neville Spearman Anthology 187
October 1969 Horror Stories from Tales to Be Told in the Dark Ballantine Bal-Hi Anthology 82
March 1970 The Satanists Taplinger Anthology 187
August 1971 The Satanists Mayflower Anthology 144
1972 Alfred Hitchcock's Bar the Doors Mayflower Anthology 156
February 1972 The Satanists Pyramid Books Anthology 192
1973 Some Things Strange and Sinister Walter J. Black, Inc. Anthology 146
April 1973 Some Things Strange and Sinister Harper & Row Anthology
August 1974 Some Things Strange and Sinister Avon Anthology 137
August 1974 The Second Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories Fontana / Collins Anthology 35
1976 Some Things Strange and Sinister Coronet Anthology
September 1976 Sisters of Sorcery: Two Centuries of Witchcraft Stories by the Gentle Sex Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Anthology 183
September 1976 Sisters of Sorcery: Two Centuries of Witchcraft Stories by the Gentle Sex Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Anthology 183
1977 Alfred Hitchcock's Bar the Doors Mayflower Anthology 156
February 1978 Demons Within & Other Disturbing Tales Taplinger Anthology 85
1980 The 2nd Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories Fontana Anthology 35
November 1981 The Second Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories Fontana / Collins Anthology 35
1982 Some Things Strange and Sinister Avon Flare Anthology 137
1985 Realms of Darkness Octopus Books Anthology 438
1985 Realms of Darkness Octopus Books Anthology 438
1988 Realms of Darkness Chartwell Books Anthology 438
October 1991 The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Volume 2 Virago Anthology 39
November 1992 Modern Ghost Stories by Eminent Women Writers Carroll & Graf Anthology 39
January 1993 Modern Ghost Stories by Eminent Women Writers Carroll & Graf / BOMC Anthology 39
October 1993 Modern Ghost Stories by Eminent Women Writers Carroll & Graf / QPBC Anthology 39
1994 The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Volume 2 Virago Anthology 39
August 1994 Modern Ghost Stories by Eminent Women Writers Carroll & Graf Anthology 39
August 1994 The Virago Book of Ghost Stories: The Twentieth Century: Volume 2 Virago Anthology 39
September 1996 Modern Ghost Stories by Eminent Women Writers Barnes & Noble Books Anthology
October 2006 The Virago Book of Ghost Stories Virago Anthology
January 2008 Bound for Evil: Curious Tales of Books Gone Bad Dead Letter Press Anthology 22
September 2009 The Virago Book of Ghost Stories Virago Anthology 248
September 2011 Demons: Encounters with the Devil and His Minions, Fallen Angels, and the Possessed Black Dog & Leventhal Anthology 47
September 2011 Bloodstock and Other Stories Bloomsbury Reader Collection |1
October 2011 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Corvus Anthology
May 2012 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Tor Anthology 183
May 2012 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Tor / SFBC Anthology 183
May 2012 The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories Tor Anthology 183
October 2016 The Haunted Library: Classic Ghost Stories British Library Publishing Anthology 165
October 2019 Women's Weird: Strange Stories by Women, 1890-1940 Handheld Press Anthology |16
March 2021 The Book Faded Page Chapbook
January 2026 PseudoPod, 16 January 2026 Escape Artists, Inc. MAGAZINE