Discovering Classic Fantasy Fiction: Essays on the Antecedents of Fantastic Literature

The antecedents of fantasy literature extend back to the very beginnings of storytelling itself, but modern fantasy became recognizable as a distinct literary form only in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with the publication of the novels of William Morris and the short stories of Lord Dunsany. The emphasis by these writers and their successors on ideal and sometimes less than ideal places and peoples who exist only in a realm of pure imagination laid the foundation for later works by J. R. R. Tolkien and many others.

CONTENTS by Page Number: 5 ? Introduction (Discovering Classic Fantasy Fiction) ? (1996) ? essay by Darrell Schweitzer ? 7 ? Lord Dunsany: The Career of a Fantaisiste ? (1996) ? essay by S. T. Joshi ? 49 ? James Branch Cabell: No Fit Employment for a Grown Man ? (1996) ? essay by Don D'Ammassa ? 56 ? Mervyn Wall and the Comedy of Despair ? (1986) ? essay by Darrell Schweitzer ? 68 ? John Collier: Fantastic Miniaturist ? (1996) ? essay by Alan Warren ? 76 ? A. Merritt: A Reappraisal ? (1996) ? essay by Ben P. Indick ? 88 ? Villains of Necessity: The Works of E. R. Edison ? (1996) ? essay by Don D'Ammassa ? 94 ? Subtle Preceptions: The Fantasy Novels of Algernon Blackwood ? (1996) ? essay by Jeffrey Goddin ? 104 ? David Lindsay and the Quest for Muspel-Fire ? (1996) ? essay by Galad Elflandsson ? 113 ? Classic American Fairy Tales: The Fantasies of L. Frank Baum ? (1996) ? essay by Neal Wilgus ? 122 ? Henry Kuttner: Man of Many Voices ? (1996) ? essay by Don D'Ammassa ? 126 ? Of the Master, Merlin, and H. Warner Munn ? (1996) ? essay by Don Herron