Oh, My Lord! A Gathering of Dunsany

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, (24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957), commonly known as Lord Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist (a real lord by the way, a baron - with a castle!). He published more than 90 books during his lifetime, and his output consisted of hundreds of short stories, plays, novels, and essays; further works were published posthumously.

Though perhaps most famous as a playwright during his life (he knew W. B. Yeats and was a major donor to the Abbey Theatre and moved in Irish literary circles; besides his own efforts he co-wrote a play with Padraic Colum - of whom see elsewhere in this blog) he is best known for a relatively small body of fantasy stories. Few, perhaps, but deeply foundational to the modern Fantasy genre.  Writers from Lovecraft to Tolkien to LeGuin to Robert E. Howard to Borges to Neil Gaiman and a host of others besides have all cited him as an influence and a favorite author. He continues as an almost invisible (but ubiquitous) presence in the genre.

Among his best-known short story characters was Joseph Jorkens, an obese, middle-aged raconteur who frequented the fictional Billiards Club in London and would tell fantastic stories if anyone bought him a large whiskey and soda. From his tales, it was clear that Jorkens had travelled to all seven continents, was extremely resourceful and well-versed in world cultures, but always came up short on becoming rich and famous. The Jorkens books, which sold well, were among the first of a type that would become popular in fantasy and science fiction writing: highly improbable "club tales" told at a gentleman's club or bar. (I remember reading a Jorkens tale as far back as middle school.)

-extracted from Wikipedia.

Because of their different formats and the different times that I bought them, my Dunsany books are scattered throughout the blog. I bring their images together here for the first time.