Western occultism proves a match for “an evil Eastern idol” in this spoof on theosophy.
A disgruntled idol, mistreated and denigrated in India in the seventeenth century, makes its way into nineteenth-century London, and into the possession of painter Ronald Campion as a gift from his beloved, Sybil Elsworth. The vindictive influence of the idol soon causes mayhem in Ronald’s professional and personal life, distorting his paintings, ruining his professional reputation, and creating grievous misunderstandings with Sybil. Nebelson, a Theosophical chela, advises Ronald on occult ways of dispatching the evil object, and many bizarre adventures follow.
(—adapted from Victorian Popular Fictions Journal, Dec 2019)
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Thomas Anstey Guthrie (8 August 1856 – 10 March 1934) was an English author (writing as F. Anstey), most noted for his comic novel
Vice Versa about a boarding-school boy and his father exchanging identities. His reputation was confirmed by
The Tinted Venus and many humorous parodies in
Punch magazine. Guthrie became an important member of the staff of
Punch magazine, in which his “Voces Populi” pieces and his humorous parodies of a reciter’s stock-piece (“Burglar Bill,” etc.) represent his best work. Other familiar titles include
The Black Poodle and
The Brass Bottle. Many of Anstey’s stories have been adapted into theatrical productions and motion pictures.
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This novel was first published in 1886.
This ebook is in the public domain where copyright is “Life+80” or less, and in the USA.
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Caveat: there be much dialog in dialect ahead.
PS-- unhappy OCR, missing lots of punctuation; please give feedback if I missed any corrections.
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