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  • af Arthur Machen
    98,95 kr.

    ''I will not read it; I should never sleep again'' A doctor performs an experiment on a young woman that goes horribly wrong, and a series of increasingly strange events follow: sinister woodland rituals, disappearances, suicides... Viewed as immoral and decadent on first publication in 1894, Machen''s weird tale has since established itself as a classic of its genre and has been described by Stephen King as ''one of the best horror stories ever written. Maybe the best in the English language''. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers'' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

  • af Arthur Machen
    198,95 kr.

    Fantastic and Horrific Stories is a collection of short fiction by Arthur Machen. Condemned as decadent and obscene upon publication, Machen's writing earned praise from Oscar Wilde and H. P. Lovecraft. Throughout the years, Machen's work has been referenced and adapted by such figures as Stephen King, Guillermo del Toro, and Josh Malerman for its masterfully unsettling blend of science, myth, and magic. The Great God Pan, perhaps Machen's most celebrated work, is the story of an occult experiment gone horribly wrong. Clarke has always taken an interest in occult matters, so when a friend offers him a chance to witness an experimental procedure intended to access the spirit realm, he cannot refuse. When the young patient Mary awakens, she shows signs of terror and soon falls into a catatonic state. Convinced of their success in discovering the world of "the great god Pan," Clarke and Raymond agree to keep their discovery a secret. Years later, a nearby town begins reporting the mysterious disappearances of young children, all of whom have been seen in the forest with a young woman named Helen Vaughn.In ?The White People,? originally published in Horlick's Magazine in 1904, a Welshman receives the diary of a young girl introduced to witchcraft. Surprisingly well-kept for its age, the green book accompanies Cotgrave on a journey through the lush countryside. Its pages contain the diary of a young girl who, encouraged by her nurse, immerses herself in the world of magic. As she grows adept in the ways of witchcraft, the girl begins referring to strange beings and unknown places, all while doing her best to conceal her secret life from friends and family.The Hill of Dreams is a semi-autobiographical novel about a young man who begins having strange visions after visiting an ancient Roman fort near his rural Welsh home. Published alongside ?The Inmost Light,? ?The Shining Pyramid,? The Terror, ?Out of the Earth,? and Ornaments in Jade, these tales by Arthur Machen showcase his gift for illuminating the presence of the supernatural in everyday life.With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Arthur Machen's Fantastic and Horrific Stories is a classic of British horror fiction reimagined for modern readers.

  • af Arthur Machen
    223,95 kr.

  • af Arthur Machen
    118,95 - 163,95 kr.

    Arthur Machen is a significant figure in supernatural and horror literature, in the genre of 'weird fiction'. This collection brings together his best horror tales with a full contextual introduction and which helps to illuminate Machen's place in the literary and cultural milieu of 1890s Britain.

  • af Arthur Machen
    151,95 kr.

  • af Arthur Machen
    128,95 kr.

  • af Arthur Machen
    119,95 kr.

    "Far Off Things," penned through Arthur Machen, immerses readers in a charming exploration of reminiscence, mysticism, and the transcendent nature of human revel in. A Welsh writer known for his esoteric and supernatural tales, Machen crafts a narrative that transcends the everyday and delves into the realms of surprise. The book serves as a memoir, inviting readers into Machen's reminiscences of his formative years and early adulthood in past due 19th and early 20th century England. Through a blend of autobiography and philosophical musings, Machen reflects at the transformative strength of creativeness and the appeal observed in seemingly mundane moments. "Far Off Things" is imbued with Machen's distinct prose, which weaves together the everyday and the extremely good, inviting readers to perceive the magical in the ordinary. Machen's deep connection to the landscapes and reports of his adolescents will become a lens through which he explores the interconnectedness of reality and the airy. This literary paintings, characterised by using its introspective and contemplative tone, offers readers a unique glimpse into the thoughts of a visionary creator. Machen's capability to infuse the ordinary with an experience of the fabulous makes "Far Off Things" a concept-frightening journey into the mysteries of existence.

  • af Arthur Machen
    88,95 kr.

    Presented for your enjoyment in easy-to-read 16 point type is the Arthur Machen classic horror novella, The Great God Pan. This tale influenced writers from H.P. Lovecraft to Stephen King. Grab it, read it, but keep the lights on.

  • af Arthur Machen
    200,95 kr.

  • af Arthur Machen
    460,95 kr.

    This is a new release of the original 1932 edition.

  • af Arthur Machen
    73,95 kr.

    Complete and unabridged paperback edition.

  • - Arthur Machen: Horror novella
    af Arthur Machen
    163,95 kr.

    Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 - 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." He is also well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons. Early years: Machen was born Arthur Llewelyn Jones in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, though he usually referred to the area by the name of the medieval Welsh kingdom, Gwent. The house of his birth, opposite the Olde Bull Inn in The Square at Caerleon, is adjacent to the Priory Hotel and is today marked with a commemorative blue plaque. The beautiful landscape of Monmouthshire, with its associations of Celtic, Roman, and medieval history, made a powerful impression on him, and his love of it is at the heart of many of his works. Machen was descended from a long line of clergymen, the family having originated in Carmarthenshire. In 1864, when Machen was two, his father John Edward Jones, became vicar of the parish of Llanddewi Fach with Llandegveth, about five miles north of Caerleon, and Machen was brought up at the rectory there. Jones had adopted his wife's maiden name, Machen, to inherit a legacy, legally becoming "Jones-Machen"; his son was baptised under that name and later used a shortened version of his full name, Arthur Machen, as a pen name. Local historian and folklorist Fred Hando traces Machen's interest in the occult to a volume of Household Words in his father's Rectory library, in which he read, at the age of eight, an entrancing article on alchemy. Hando recounts Machen's other early reading: He bought De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater at Pontypool Road Railway Station, The Arabian Nights at Hereford Railway Station, and borrowed Don Quixote from Mrs. Gwyn, of Llanfrechfa Rectory. In his father's library he found also the Waverley Novels, a three-volume edition of the Glossary of Gothic Architecture, and an early volume of Tennyson At the age of eleven, Machen boarded at Hereford Cathedral School, where he received an excellent classical education. Family poverty ruled out attendance at university, and Machen was sent to London, where he sat exams to attend medical school but failed to get in. Machen, however, showed literary promise, publishing in 1881 a long poem "Eleusinia" on the subject of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to London, he lived in relative poverty, attempting to work as a journalist, as a publisher's clerk, and as a children's tutor while writing in the evening and going on long rambling walks across London.......................................

  • - A Note Upon Ecstasy in Literature
    af Arthur Machen
    249,95 kr.

    This is a new release of the original 1923 edition.

  • af Arthur Machen
    294,95 kr.

  • - Arthur Machen: Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 - 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century.
    af Arthur Machen
    108,95 kr.

    Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 - 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." He is also well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons. Early years: Machen was born Arthur Llewelyn Jones in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, though he usually referred to the area by the name of the medieval Welsh kingdom, Gwent. The house of his birth, opposite the Olde Bull Inn in The Square at Caerleon, is adjacent to the Priory Hotel and is today marked with a commemorative blue plaque. The beautiful landscape of Monmouthshire, with its associations of Celtic, Roman, and medieval history, made a powerful impression on him, and his love of it is at the heart of many of his works. Machen was descended from a long line of clergymen, the family having originated in Carmarthenshire. In 1864, when Machen was two, his father John Edward Jones, became vicar of the parish of Llanddewi Fach with Llandegveth, about five miles north of Caerleon, and Machen was brought up at the rectory there. Jones had adopted his wife's maiden name, Machen, to inherit a legacy, legally becoming "Jones-Machen"; his son was baptised under that name and later used a shortened version of his full name, Arthur Machen, as a pen name. Local historian and folklorist Fred Hando traces Machen's interest in the occult to a volume of Household Words in his father's Rectory library, in which he read, at the age of eight, an entrancing article on alchemy. Hando recounts Machen's other early reading: He bought De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater at Pontypool Road Railway Station, The Arabian Nights at Hereford Railway Station, and borrowed Don Quixote from Mrs. Gwyn, of Llanfrechfa Rectory. In his father's library he found also the Waverley Novels, a three-volume edition of the Glossary of Gothic Architecture, and an early volume of Tennyson At the age of eleven, Machen boarded at Hereford Cathedral School, where he received an excellent classical education. Family poverty ruled out attendance at university, and Machen was sent to London, where he sat exams to attend medical school but failed to get in. Machen, however, showed literary promise, publishing in 1881 a long poem "Eleusinia" on the subject of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to London, he lived in relative poverty, attempting to work as a journalist, as a publisher's clerk, and as a children's tutor while writing in the evening and going on long rambling walks across London..................

  • af Arthur Machen
    352,95 kr.

    This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

  • af Arthur Machen
    450,95 kr.

    This is a new release of the original 1932 edition.

  • - Arthur Machen: (Short story collections)
    af Arthur Machen
    103,95 kr.

    The Great God Pan is a novella by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine The Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together with another story, "The Inmost Light") in 1894. On publication it was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, but it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror.[1] Machen's story was only one of many at the time to focus on the Greek God Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism. The title was possibly inspired by the poem "A Musical Instrument" published in 1862 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in which the first line of every stanza ends "... the great god Pan".Synopsis[edit] Clarke agrees, somewhat unwillingly, to bear witness to a strange experiment performed by his friend, Dr. Raymond. The ultimate goal of the doctor is to open the mind of man so that he may experience the spiritual world, an experience he calls "seeing the great god Pan". He performs the experiment, which involves minor brain surgery, on a young woman named Mary. She awakens from the operation awed and terrified but quickly becomes "a hopeless idiot". Years later, Clarke learns of a beautiful but sinister girl named Helen Vaughan, who is reported to have caused a series of mysterious happenings in her town. She spends much of her time in the woods near her house, and takes other children on prolonged twilight rambles in the countryside that disturb the parents of the town. One day, a young boy stumbles across her "playing on the grass with a 'strange naked man, '"; the boy becomes hysterical and later, after seeing a Roman statue of a satyr's head, becomes permanently feeble-minded. Helen also forms an unusually close friendship with a neighbour girl, Rachel, whom she leads several times into the woods. On one occasion Rachel returns home distraught, half-naked and rambling. Shortly after explaining what happened to her mother (never revealed in the story), she returns to the woods and disappears forever. Years later, Villiers happens across his old friend Herbert, who has become a vagrant since they last met. When asked how he has fallen so low, Herbert replies that he has been "corrupted body and soul" by his wife. After some investigation with Clarke and another character, Austin, it is revealed that Helen was Herbert's wife, and that the two had been involved rather suspiciously in the death of a well-to-do man. Herbert is later found dead. Helen disappears for some time, supposedly taking part in disturbing orgies somewhere in the Americas. She eventually returns to London under the pseudonym Mrs. Beaumont, her appearance followed by a series of suicides. Villiers and Clarke, each learning of Mrs. Beaumont's true identity, band together and confront Helen in her house. They persuade her to hang herself, and Helen has a very abnormal death, transforming between human and beast before finally dying. It is finally revealed that Helen is the child of Mary and the great god Pan, who was let in when Dr. Raymond opened her mind up to him....... Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 - 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. ...............

  • af Arthur Machen
    233,95 kr.

    Thank you for checking out this book by Theophania Publishing. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you soon. We have thousands of titles available, and we invite you to search for us by name, contact us via our website, or download our most recent catalogues. All these Dreads and Drolls appeared in The Graphic . They were gathered from all sorts of sources. Most of them are strictly veridical, but it may be confessed that here and there imagination plays a small part. My favourite in the collection is, decidedly, the story of Grimaldi the Clown and his long-lost brother. It is an enigma of a tale. On the one hand, there is nothing improbable in the bare plot. Many lads, I have no doubt, went to sea in the adventurous times of the Napoleonic Wars, and were unheard of by their families for long years, often enough they were never heard of again. They were killed in one fight or another, they perished in African swamps, they became Archimandrites in Russia, or confidential advisers to the Dey of Algiers or to Prester John. And again there is nothing improbable in the adventurer's return with a heavy bag of gold, nothing improbable in the final disappearance of a young man who flourishes this bag of gold in the purlieus of Drury Lane as the chimes are ringing midnight. That is the bare plot of the tale, and as I say, it is all probable enough; and yet I defy anybody to read Grimaldi's story without lifting an incredulous eyebrow. And I have come to the conclusion that this impression is due to Grimaldi's unconscious art, I have no doubt that the Clown spoke the truth; but he had within him that love of mystery and wonder which (as I have said till people are sick of hearing me say it) is the sure foundation, the only foundation of Art. Again and again in his odd book this note of mysteriousness occurs. Take, for example, the incident, of the man with the silver staff. Grimaldi always declared that he never knew who this personage was. He didn't want to know. If he had made enquiries, I suppose he would have found that the mysterious stranger was Chief Bow Street Runner, or, as we should say, something big at Scotland Yard. And so, I daresay that the affair of Mr. Mackintosh and his twelve friends - a tale absolutely Arabian, as Grimaldi tells it - would have seemed tiresome enough to a man without his admirable capacity for mystery and capacity of creating it. And thus in the business of the long-lost brother. It all happened, and there is nothing very remarkable in it - save for the wonderful though unconscious art which has made a plain tale of plain facts read like a subtle study in mysterious suggestion, a ghost story of the rarest kind. This is a great gift: to be able so to tell the bare truth that it seems a magnificent lie. To many of us, it is rather given to invent elaborate fictions which are plainer (and duller) than the plainest facts.

  • af Arthur Machen
    128,95 kr.

    The Great God Pan is a horror and fantasy novella by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. Machen was inspired to write The Great God Pan by his experiences at the ruins of a pagan temple in Wales. What would become the first chapter of the novella was published in the magazine The Whirlwind in 1890. Machen later extended The Great God Pan and it was published as a book alongside another story, "The Inmost Light", in 1894. The novella begins with an experiment to allow a woman named Mary to see the supernatural world. This is followed by an account of a series of mysterious happenings and deaths over many years surrounding a woman named Helen Vaughan. At the end, the heroes confront Helen and force her to kill herself. She undergoes a series of supernatural transformations before dying and she is revealed to be the child of Mary and the god Pan.

  • - Richard (Barham) Middleton, introduction By: Arthur Machen (mystery and horror novel): Richard Barham Middleton (28 October 1882 - 1 December 1911) was an English poet and author, who is remembered mostly for his short ghost stories, in particular "The Gh
    af Arthur Machen
    108,95 kr.

    Richard Barham Middleton (28 October 1882 - 1 December 1911) was an English poet and author, who is remembered mostly for his short ghost stories, in particular "The Ghost Ship". Biography" Born in Staines, Middlesex, and educated at Cranbrook School, Kent, Middleton worked in London for the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation bank, as a clerk, from 1901 to 1907. Unhappy in this, he affected a Bohemian life at night; he is mentioned, in disguised terms, in Arthur Ransome's Bohemia in London. He moved out of his parents' house and into rooms in Blackfriars, and he joined the club The New Bohemians, where he acquired literary contacts who included Arthur Machen, Louis McQuilland (1880-1946), and Christopher Wilson. He became an editor at Vanity Fair under Edgar Jepson, where he confided to his fellow editor Frank Harris that what he really wanted to do was make a living as a poet. Shortly after, Harris published Middleton's poem "The Bathing Boy" I saw him standing idly on the brim Of the quick river, in his beauty clad, So fair he was that Nature looked at him And touched him with her sunbeams here and there So that his cool flesh sparkled, and his hair Blazed like a crown above the naked lad. And so I wept; I have seen lovely things, Maidens and stars and roses all a-nod In moonlit seas, but Love without his wings Set in the azure of an August sky, Was all too fair for my mortality, And so I wept to see the little god. Till with a sudden grace of silver skin And golden lock he dived, his song of joy Broke with the bubbles as he bore them in; And lo, the fear of night was on that place, Till decked with new-found gems and flushed of face He rose again, a laughing, choking boy. His work was also published by Austin Harrison in The English Review, and he wrote book reviews for The Academy. Middleton suffered from severe depression, known as melancholia at that time. He spent the last nine months of his life in Brussels, where in December 1911 he took his life by poisoning himself with chloroform, which had been prescribed as a remedy for his condition. His literary reputation was kept alive by Edgar Jepson and Arthur Machen, the latter of whom wrote an introduction to Middleton's collection The Ghost Ship and Other Stories, and later by John Gawsworth. His stories have appeared in several anthologies. An encounter by Middleton with the young Raymond Chandler is said to have influenced the latter to postpone his career as writer. Chandler wrote, "Middleton struck me as having far more talent than ....................... Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 - 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." He is also well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons......................

  • af Arthur Machen
    128,95 kr.

    "The Angels of Mons" is a short story written by Arthur Machen, originally published in 1915. The story is known for its unique blend of supernatural elements and war fiction, and it gained considerable popularity during World War I.The narrative is framed as a series of letters exchanged between two characters, one of whom recounts a fantastical event during the Battle of Mons in August 1914. According to the narrator, British soldiers were aided by a mysterious, divine intervention that took the form of angelic beings. These supernatural entities allegedly protected the British forces and turned the tide of the battle in their favor.Machen's story contributed to the creation of a legend that suggested the appearance of angelic or supernatural forces on the battlefield, providing hope and inspiration to the soldiers. However, it's essential to note that "The Angels of Mons" is a work of fiction, and the events described are not based on historical facts.The tale became so influential that it led to rumors and misconceptions, with some people believing that the events described by Machen were true accounts rather than fictional elements. The story reflects the psychological and emotional impact of war, as well as the human tendency to find solace and inspiration in supernatural or divine intervention during times of crisis.

  • af Arthur Machen
    183,95 kr.

    The Terror: A Mystery, is a classical and a rare book, that has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and redesigned. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work, and hence their text is clear and readable. This remarkable volume falls within the genres of Language and Literatures English literature

  • af Arthur Machen
    343,95 kr.

    Dreamt In Fire has been compiled and arranged with the desire to present an expansive survey on the work of Arthur Machen without resorting to the over-anthologized texts found so easily in other collections.

  • af Arthur Machen
    183,95 kr.

    The work displayed in A Reader of Curious Books paints an intellectual portrait of Arthur Machen as a young man. All of the writer's future themes and favorite subjects can be found in its pages: Christian history and liturgy, folklore, early man, the history of world literature, psychic phenomenon, orthodoxy versus heresy-to name only a few. For the certified bibliophile, a lover of literary exploration or the merely curious, a collection of this sort justifies itself. The archaic dispatches are both entertaining for the quality of the prose and interesting for the array of arcane subjects covered. The forgotten books reviewed in this collection become living characters with each title owing its existence to the simple suggestion that it does exist. In a sense, this lost bookshelf functions best as does the library of Don Quijote-a dusty chamber of the possibly dangerous, perhaps banal books which feed the imagination of man... that mad mammal.

  • af Arthur Machen
    353,95 kr.

    An essay exploring the role of ecstasy and altered states of consciousness in literature, using examples from various literary traditions.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

  • af Arthur Machen
    183,95 kr.

    The Secret Glory, a classical book, has been considered essential throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we at Alpha Editions have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

  • af Arthur Machen
    78,95 kr.

    The Angels of Mons-The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War is a classic World War One short story collection by Arthur Machen. The Angels of Mons is a popular legend about a group of angels who supposedly protected members of the British Army in the Battle of Mons at the outset of the First World War. Though the story itself is nothing, it has yet had such odd and unforeseen consequences and adventures that the tale of them may possess some interest. And then, again, there are certain psychological morals to be drawn from the whole matter of the tale and its sequel of rumours and discussions that are not, I think, devoid of consequence; and so to begin at the beginning.

  • af Arthur Machen
    78,95 kr.

    Arthur Machen (March 3, 1863 - December 15, 1947) was a leading Welsh author of the 1890s. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. He also is well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons. His surname rhymes with blacken.

  • - Arthur Machen: Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 - 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century.
    af Arthur Machen
    103,95 kr.

    Arthur Machen (3 March 1863 - 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language." He is also well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons. Early years: Machen was born Arthur Llewelyn Jones in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, though he usually referred to the area by the name of the medieval Welsh kingdom, Gwent. The house of his birth, opposite the Olde Bull Inn in The Square at Caerleon, is adjacent to the Priory Hotel and is today marked with a commemorative blue plaque. The beautiful landscape of Monmouthshire, with its associations of Celtic, Roman, and medieval history, made a powerful impression on him, and his love of it is at the heart of many of his works. Machen was descended from a long line of clergymen, the family having originated in Carmarthenshire. In 1864, when Machen was two, his father John Edward Jones, became vicar of the parish of Llanddewi Fach with Llandegveth, about five miles north of Caerleon, and Machen was brought up at the rectory there. Jones had adopted his wife's maiden name, Machen, to inherit a legacy, legally becoming "Jones-Machen"; his son was baptised under that name and later used a shortened version of his full name, Arthur Machen, as a pen name. Local historian and folklorist Fred Hando traces Machen's interest in the occult to a volume of Household Words in his father's Rectory library, in which he read, at the age of eight, an entrancing article on alchemy. Hando recounts Machen's other early reading: He bought De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium Eater at Pontypool Road Railway Station, The Arabian Nights at Hereford Railway Station, and borrowed Don Quixote from Mrs. Gwyn, of Llanfrechfa Rectory. In his father's library he found also the Waverley Novels, a three-volume edition of the Glossary of Gothic Architecture, and an early volume of Tennyson At the age of eleven, Machen boarded at Hereford Cathedral School, where he received an excellent classical education. Family poverty ruled out attendance at university, and Machen was sent to London, where he sat exams to attend medical school but failed to get in. Machen, however, showed literary promise, publishing in 1881 a long poem "Eleusinia" on the subject of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Returning to London, he lived in relative poverty, attempting to work as a journalist, as a publisher's clerk, and as a children's tutor while writing in the evening and going on long rambling walks across London......................